Hezbollah Releases Drone Video of Israeli Air Base
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has released a drone video that purportedly shows air defense facilities, aircraft, and fuel depots at Israel’s Ramat David airbase, located nearly 50 kilometers inside Israeli territory. The footage includes markings indicating military infrastructure, including Israel’s short-range Iron Dome air defense system, which is designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles.
The video, which lasts over eight minutes, was primarily recorded on Tuesday, according to the Iran-aligned group. The footage also featured night shots that Hezbollah claimed were taken “earlier,” as well as other images the group asserted were captured in July. The description states that this was only “some” of what the drone had captured.
This video marks the third in a series released by Hezbollah, which claims the videos demonstrate the extent of their surveillance capabilities over Israel. The first video showcased the Israeli port city of Haifa, while the second focused on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed that the video was filmed by a surveillance drone and stated that operations at the airbase were not impacted. Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr noted that this footage serves as Hezbollah’s way of demonstrating its military and intelligence capabilities.
“In recent days, Hezbollah has also expanded its target areas in northern Israel, regions that have not been evacuated according to Israeli media,” Khodr reported. “Hezbollah asserts that this is a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently in the United States, indicating their readiness should he choose to escalate the confrontation with the group.”
The release of these videos comes at a time of heightened tensions due to Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza and frequent skirmishes along the Lebanon-Israel border. According to Palestinian authorities, more than 39,145 people have been killed in Israel’s war against Gaza since October, resulting in the displacement of a significant portion of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the area.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza commenced following a Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 individuals, based on a tally from Al Jazeera that utilized Israeli statistics, with an additional 250 individuals captured. Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel on October 8, pledging to continue until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved.
The military tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have led to the deaths of nearly 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and over 100 civilians, including doctors, children, and journalists. In contrast, 10 Israeli civilians, one foreign agricultural worker, and 20 Israeli soldiers have been reported killed.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaer, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, warned that a miscalculation along the Israel-Lebanon border could “consume the entire region” in conflict. Her statement reflects the growing concerns that hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which have engaged in nearly daily cross-border attacks during the Gaza war, are reaching a boiling point. Hennis-Plasschaer stated that solutions to such conflicts “do not only lie in Lebanon” and expressed hope that a ceasefire agreement for Gaza could help resolve these tensions.