Hezbollah uses drones to prevent war against Israel

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah recently released videos showing footage of one of its drones flying over the Israeli city of Haifa and its surroundings.

Hezbollah released the videos shortly after American special envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to Beirut to urge the Lebanese political leadership to pressure Hezbollah to withdraw from the border with Israel.

Following Hochstein’s visit, Hezbollah released images taken by one of its drones, called Hudhud (Hoopoe), showing strategic military and civilian infrastructure in Israel.

The following day, the group’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech in which he reiterated that Hezbollah was capable of launching targeted attacks anywhere in Israel.

The drone footage demonstrates Hezbollah’s growing technological capabilities. Together with Nasrallah’s speech, it appears to be intended to curb Israeli threats to invade Lebanon and send the message that Hezbollah has the capacity to inflict serious damage in Israel in the event of a full-scale war.

Use of drones

In response to Israel’s attack on Gaza, Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli military positions along the border with Lebanon since October 2023.

The Israeli military has shelled several areas in southern Lebanon with artillery and launched air strikes. Hundreds of people, mostly Lebanese, have been killed and tens of thousands on both sides of the border have been forced to flee the area.

Israeli media reports suggest that the military did not shoot down the Hezbollah drone. Israel justified this decision by citing concerns about civilian casualties. However, military analysts believe that the failure to intercept enemy drones during a conflict indicates inadequate detection capabilities.

Normally, a foreign military aircraft flying over a territory would be immediately neutralized to eliminate any security risk, possibly by attacking it over water or uninhabited areas.

Technological advances are enabling Hezbollah and the broader Axis of Resistance to challenge Israel’s air superiority and its ability to maintain total control of the skies.

This includes the development of high-performance missiles and the ability to intercept or destroy Israeli drones such as the Hermes 450 and Skylark, which are often used in reconnaissance missions over Lebanon.

However, this also exposes Lebanon to greater risks, as any new weapon used by Hezbollah could escalate the conflict.

Mutual deterrence

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been marked by mutual attempts at deterrence over the years. In recent months, Hezbollah has shot down Israeli drones and bombed Israeli military bases.

Since October 2023, Israel has carried out preemptive and retaliatory strikes against members of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, particularly in southern Lebanon. In June, Israel attacked Taleb Sami Abdallah, a key Hezbollah commander on the Lebanese-Israeli front.

Following this attack, Hezbollah intensified its offensive, firing rockets that sparked forest fires in Israel. The following weekend remained relatively quiet due to Eid al-Adha celebrations.

Israel has also taken steps to deter Hezbollah attacks by banning the use of GPS navigation and location-based apps such as Google Maps for security reasons. The aim is to counter drones, missiles and other technologies used by Hezbollah and other armed groups. This shows Israel’s determination to maintain its technological superiority and develop countermeasures against new threats.

Although groups like Hezbollah are increasingly using modern technology, they also rely on rudimentary tactics to avoid detection. Nasrallah once described Hezbollah’s use of such tactics in an interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The Iron Dome

Hezbollah has significantly increased its military and technological arsenal since its last war with Israel in 2006 and would likely pose a greater threat to the Israeli military in the event of a wider confrontation.

Hezbollah recently claimed to have destroyed an Iron Dome battery, but the Israeli military said it was unaware of any damage to the launchers.

Iron Dome is designed to protect Israel from short-range missiles and drones fired by armed groups. It consists of batteries distributed throughout the country and uses radar to track approaching targets and interceptor missiles to destroy them.

While Israel boasts about Iron Dome’s interception rate, US officials say the system could be overwhelmed in the event of a full-scale war with Hezbollah.

Psychological warfare

Hezbollah is well aware that Israel will not hold back in pursuing its political and military goals.

This is evident in the bombing of Gaza and Israeli military tactics such as the Dahiya Doctrine, which calls for the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure. Israeli air strikes and threats of invasion have already forced around 95,000 people to flee southern Lebanon.

By provoking Israel, Hezbollah is demonstrating its willingness to challenge Israel head-on. The question remains: does Hezbollah really have this capability or is it bluffing?

In his speech, Nasrallah stressed that the group has not yet revealed the full extent of its capabilities and hinted at further actions. His comments are part of Hezbollah’s strategy of psychological warfare against Israel, and the current escalation represents a significant development.

Hezbollah is trying to dictate the pace of the clashes and is frustrating the population in northern Israel by creating the impression that Hezbollah is controlling the situation and imposing its conditions on the region.

This psychological war appears to be having real effects, prompting Israeli leaders to avoid disproportionate responses and causing growing concern among Israelis about their government’s inability to bring the situation under control. Since October 2023, more than 96,000 Israelis have fled the north.

The Israeli military says it has approved “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon.” But despite Israel’s undeniable military superiority over Hezbollah, its actions so far suggest it is aware of the dangers a major war could bring. Israeli officials have warned that infrastructure such as electricity supplies could be severely damaged in a full-blown war.

The Israeli army has not fought a major war in years and appears increasingly stuck in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has spent most of the last decade fighting in Syria, giving its fighters combat experience. If the war escalates, Hezbollah’s allies in Iran, Iraq and Yemen could also become more involved in the war.

Ultimately, Hezbollah knows that Israel is much stronger, but through psychological warfare it is sending the message that any fire would have devastating consequences for Israel as well.

It is imperative that all parties involved exercise restraint. The fighting and destruction must end to protect the well-being of the people of the region who are suffering the devastating consequences of this conflict.

Israel’s military spokesman recently stated that it is not possible to destroy Hamas because it is impossible to destroy an idea by force of arms. The same applies to Hezbollah. This conflict can only be resolved at the negotiating table with a peace that guarantees the security and dignity of all people.

Emilie El Khoury is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for International Policy and Defence (CIDP) at Queen’s University, Ontario.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.