The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group announced on Sunday that it launched a drone attack on Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, where Israel has a key surveillance centre.
Hezbollah stated that this was its first bombing since it began engaging in fire exchanges with Israel on October 8, the day after its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel, leading to the Gaza war. Hezbollah has indicated that it will cease operations only when the war concludes.
Although Hezbollah has previously targeted other areas in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, it claimed that this was the first time it had hit a military target at the highest elevation in the Israeli-controlled territory.
Israel maintains key surveillance, espionage, and air defense installations on Mount Hermon, which overlooks the Syrian capital, and has monitored several countries since the 1973 October Arab-Israeli war.
The conflict between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has been gradually escalating for months, raising concerns about a potential full-scale war, which both sides claim to want to avoid, while diplomats work to prevent it.
Hezbollah has increased its attacks, deploying larger numbers of explosive drones, using a new type of rocket, and claiming to have targeted Israeli warplanes for the first time, according to sources familiar with Hezbollah’s arsenal.
This escalation has tested unwritten rules that had previously confined the conflict to border areas or near them since October, keeping Lebanese and Israeli cities out of the firing line.
Israel blames Iranian-backed Hezbollah for the rise in violence and has reiterated its commitment to restoring security to the border. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest Hezbollah strike.
