Hezbollah downs Israeli drone over southern Lebanon in rare show of anti-aircraft capability

Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone on Monday near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, the second Israeli drone it claims to have shot down since the group opened a second front with Israel in the wake of Hamas's surprise 7 October attack.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it downed the Hermes 450 Israeli drone with a surface-to-air missile.

The extent of Hezbollah's anti-aircraft capabilities is unclear, with the group publishing few details about the types of weaponry it has used to target the two drones.

"Hezbollah has not said much about the capacities of the air defence unit because it wants to use it as a surprise in the event of a greater war between it and the [Israeli] enemy," retired Lebanese Brigadier General Amine Hoteit told The New Arab.

In the 2006 war, the extent of Hezbollah's use of anti-aircraft technology was limited to the downing of an Israeli helicopter, but it is assumed that the group has since improved its arsenal.

"Until now, it has used anti-aircraft [weaponry] in very limited engagements only. Each time that it has, however, the missiles hit the targets accurately," Brigadier General Hoteit said.

Israeli media said that Hezbollah had used an Iranian Saqr 358 anti-aircraft missile in November in an attack on an Israeli drone.

The 358 surface-to-air missile fly distances ranging from 10 km to 100 km and loiters in the air once launched before striking its target.

In retaliation for the downing of the drone, Israel carried out airstrikes in the town of Baalbeck in the Bekaa valley, on a warehouse of a Hezbollah-affiliated charity, killing two Hezbollah fighters.

The strike, some 75 kilometres from the Lebanese-Israeli border, was the deepest that Israel has struck in Lebanese territory since the beginning of cross-border fighting and the first time it has hit the Bekaa since the 2006 war.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said the strikes targeted a warehouse belonging to Hezbollah’s air defence unit and were carried out in retaliation for the downing of the drone earlier in the day.

The strike, some 75 kilometres from the Lebanese-Israeli border, was a marked escalation from the usual rules of engagement which have thus far governed cross-border fighting and rounded off weeks of heightened tensions.

Clashes had generally stayed within 5 km on each side of the shared border, with the exception of a series of targeted assassinations Israel has carried out in recent weeks.

Though Hezbollah has signalled it does not want a full-scale war with Israel, the pace and intensity of fighting have escalated regardless.

Western and Arab diplomats have been engaged in shuttle diplomacy for months in an attempt to head off a broader war but with little result.

Israel has said it will not stop fighting until Hezbollah withdraws from beyond the Litani River, some 30 km from the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Hezbollah has said it will not engage in negotiations until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved.