The images, which appeared to have been captured by accident, include close-up depictions of the faces of the men who launched the drone, along with one of them leaning on his car with his license plate number clearly visible.
By World Israel News Staff
An intelligence-gathering drone launched by Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon shot down by the IDF contained a memory card replete with photos of the terror agents who manned it, the Israeli military revealed last Friday.
After shooting down the drone once it entered Israeli airspace, military investigators discovered that the drone had recorded images of the men who launched it – members of a Hezbollah unit focusing on UAVs, and whose identities are meant to be a closely guarded secret.
The images, which appeared to have been captured by accident, include close-up depictions of the faces of the men who launched the drone, along with one of them leaning on his car with his license plate number clearly visible.
“The IDF will continue to operate against any attempt by terrorists to violate Israeli sovereignty,” the military wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of the downed drone.
In 2021, Hezbollah sent some 74 drones into Israeli airspace, an IDF spokesman said in a statement.
Israel also regularly launches drones into Lebanon, some of which have crashed.
Hezbollah has claimed it fired upon the drones and brought them down, but the IDF says the crashes are due to technical malfunctions.
The IDF maintains that the drones that are downed in Lebanon do not contain information or data that could potentially damage national security.
In August 2021, the IDF announced it had shot down a Hezbollah drone that entered Israeli airspace.
Also in August 2021, Hezbollah terror group claimed responsibility for firing 19 rockets toward Israel. That was preceded by a rocket attack launched from Lebanese territory, though it remained unclear by whom. Israel responded with artillery and rare airstrikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he holds the Lebanese government responsible for attacks launched from Lebanon toward Israel, no matter by whom.