On June 18, Hezbollah released surveillance footage taken from drones that it says flew over parts of northern Israel’s coast. The video is over nine minutes in length and was widely shared on social media. There are more videos from the same drones, and Hezbollah has hinted that these could also be released.
The drone footage has raised eyebrows in the region. It received reports from the pro-Iranian al-Mayadeen media and also in the UAE at Al-Ain media. The footage is an example of how Hezbollah is showcasing its increased capabilities during this war.
It is not the first time Hezbollah drones have penetrated Israeli airspace or that Hezbollah has put out various types of footage of Israel. Hezbollah prides itself on this kind of information warfare. It hints that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what it can accomplish.
For Israel, this is a challenge because Israel is used to being the hi-tech superpower in the region, and it is Israel that prides itself on being able to use drones and other means of surveillance against enemies near and far.
What Hezbollah is saying is that it can accomplish this as well. For a terrorist group that has turned into a modern, sophisticated terrorist army in the last decade, it is clear that Hezbollah’s drones are giving it many capabilities that it did not possess in the past.
Al-Mayadeen media, which is pro-Iranian, says that the drone footage shows many “sensitive” sites in northern Israel. These are mostly along the coastline from Haifa north towards the Lebanese border.
Al-Mayadeen said the drone focused on the “Rafael Military Industries Complex.” This site, it says, is part of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, one of three major Israeli defense companies.
Sites the footage shows
The report at Al-Mayadeen says the drone footage shows a site that “includes a large number of factories, warehouses, and experimental fields, where components of effective air defense systems are manufactured and assembled, especially the Iron Dome and ‘David’s Sling.’” It says this area is “extremely sensitive and secret. It has a total area of 6.5 square km and is 24 km away from the Lebanese border.”
The report claims that “in addition to a full, high-resolution view of the complex, the scenes clearly showed several Iron Dome platforms, a rocket engine testing tunnel, rocket engine stores, air defense missile stores, missile component manufacturing facilities, David’s Sling platforms, systems factories Control and guidance, the company’s administrative buildings, in addition to missile testing radar.”
Then the report goes on to note that the drones took footage of Haifa port and also “ship maintenance hangars, computing unit building 3800, Haifa Naval Base, the main warehouse and supply department in the Haifa base dock, the depth missions unit (Yaltam) building, buildings belonging to the submarine unit, the submarine dock and berth, and Submarine Unit Command Building (Shayetet 7).”
The report goes on to say that the video shows several Israeli naval ships, including a “logistical support ship ‘Patiam,’ the Sa’ar 4.5 ships, the Devora boats, the Sa’ar 6 ships, and the Sa’ar 5 ships.” The drones also flew over several piers in the port.
“The scenes also included the Haifa Power Station, chemical tanks, Haifa Airport and its Iron Dome warehouses and Iron Dome platforms, in addition to oil tanks.” Then, the drones also took footage of the Krayot, the series of towns north of Haifa. These are civilian areas, and the report says the drones took videos of various streets and commercial complexes. “The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon attached the clip to the phrase of the first episode, indicating more scenes that it will show later, stressing that the march bypassed the air defense systems of the Israeli occupation and returned without being able to detect it.”
The messaging here is clear. The reports indicate a wide range of important sites, designed to show that Hezbollah is very familiar with all the areas it took video of. The videos are intended not just to show that Hezbollah could fly a drone or drones around these areas and take video but that Hezbollah could then bring the information back, edit the videos, and add notations of the locations that had been filmed. This is the point Hezbollah is making and one that pro-Iranian media has picked up on. Hezbollah is showing it is very familiar with a plethora of areas in northern Israel.
The terrorist group has claimed in recent months to target many of these types of sites, such as Iron Dome batteries in northern Israel and also the Rafael site.
Al-Ain media in the UAE noted the same videos. “Yesterday, Tuesday, Hezbollah published drone footage of the Israeli port of Haifa, located 17 miles from the Lebanese border, in an apparent attempt to demonstrate its ability to penetrate Israeli air defenses and reach deep into the country.”