A drone flying from Lebanon infiltrated into Israeli airspace, early Wednesday afternoon. According to the IDF, the craft was tracked by the IDF throughout the incident, until it returned to Lebanese territory.
Unrelated to today’s infiltration, a senior IDF officer warned that Lebanon will pay a heavy price if the Hezbollah terror organization attacks Israel from its territory.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday marking the 13th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, Major General Amir Baram, Head of the IDF’s Northern Command, noted that “Hezbollah’s allegiance is and has always been to the Supreme Leader of Iran and not to the Lebanese people” and as a direct result, Lebanon is liable to pay a heavy price in a pending conflict for “its cooperation with the Shiite terrorism.”
Baram also cautioned that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, continues to establish its forces in southern Lebanon and is building terror and rocket infrastructure inside villages near the border with Israel, a war crime in its own right and in violation of UN Resolution 1701.
UNSC 1701 was passed in 2006 at the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War, demanding a full cessation of hostilities, a withdrawal by Hezbollah to the Blue Line, and that the government of Lebanon and the UNIFIL deploy their forces in the South. Israel has repeatedly charged that Hezbollah violated the resolution on many occasions.
While the Shiite terror group continues to prepare its attack on Israel, the IDF will “continue to act to thwart Hezbollah’s efforts to threaten our security, covertly and openly, and if war is forced upon us we will exact a heavy price from this organization and those who sponsor it – wherever it is required!” Baram vowed.
The IDF has recently exposed and demolished the Hezbollah’s flagship terror-tunnel, 22-floors deep and penetrating into Israeli territory.
Six months after being launched in December, Operation Northern Shield to expose and neutralize Hezbollah’s terror tunnels on Israel’s northern border ended last month with the neutralization of the “Ramyeh” tunnel, the sixth and last to be demolished.
Emulating the Hamas terror organization in Gaza, Hezbollah in recent years has been digging tunnels designed to enable the rapid streaming of masses of terrorists into Israeli territory with the objective of seizing key strategic points in the north of the country.
This last tunnel reached 80 meters deep, about 22 stories below ground, and penetrated 77 meters into Israel.