Hezbollah Launches Explosive Drone at IDF Forces in Lebanon; Israel Strikes Back

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

The IDF Spokesperson said Saturday night that Israel carried out a wave of strikes in southern Lebanon throughout the day. The strikes came in response to an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah operatives toward IDF forces in the security zone.

The military said it struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure in southern Lebanon. As part of the strikes, the Air Force targeted weapons depots intended for use by the organization’s operatives in planning and directing terror attacks against IDF forces. The strikes were carried out to remove an immediate threat.

Before the strikes, IDF forces intercepted a drone launched by Hezbollah operatives toward them in the security zone. Soldiers from the Commando Brigade fired at it and intercepted it. There were no casualties among Israeli forces.

The IDF noted that "this is a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and the strikes were carried out in response." Lebanese media reported that two people riding a motorcycle were killed in the village of Roumaneh in southern Lebanon. According to the reports, targets were also struck in the western Bekaa region, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Ramadiyah.

Meanwhile, Israel returned Hussein Ayash to Lebanon yesterday. He was one of five Lebanese detainees held in Israel whose release had been agreed upon. Over the past two days, the prisoners were released back to the neighboring country, which is at the same time searching for the remains of leaders of Lebanon’s Jewish community who were murdered and abducted by terrorist organizations in the 1980s. Israeli officials say none of the five released prisoners were found to have ties to terrorist organizations.

Ayash, 33, told Reuters that he was arrested by IDF soldiers about three months ago while driving in the village of Tabbaneh in southern Lebanon. According to him, soldiers approached him and ordered him out of his vehicle, then blindfolded and handcuffed him. He was then held for several days in different homes in southern Lebanon before being transferred to Israel and kept in solitary confinement, sometimes for up to 30 days, he claimed. "Then they transfer you to prison, to a regular room," he said. "There are places called cages, and you sit in them. There are people, Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all the different nationalities who are in prison. Every so often, every 30 to 40 days, you are transferred from room to room."

He said he was asked whether he had ties to Hezbollah and was not tortured, but suffered psychological pressure. "You have to talk," he said. "They have all the information. Psychological pressure is not easy; you are in a country that is not yours, with people you do not know, and you do not know when you will leave."