Israel fears Iranian ‘kamikaze’ drone attack by Hezbollah

Israel concerned Hezbollah will launch an offensive utilizing the same Iranian drones being used by Russia in Ukraine.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

As Russia successfully deploys Iranian-made kamikaze drones for aerial warfare in Ukraine, officials in Jerusalem reportedly worried that the Hezbollah terror group could potentially use the same weapons against Israel.

The concerns come as Russia attacked Kyiv with a barrage of aerial drones on Monday killing four people and injuring 19. The attacks appeared to target critical infrastructure.

The Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones reportedly being used by Russia can loiter in the air over a target before diving onto their target and exploding on impact. They can be launched from the back of a truck and have a reported range of 1,500 miles.

Reports also describe the Shaheds as loud, slow and sometimes downed by Ukrainian small arms fire.

The Israeli army expects that in a future clash with Hezbollah — which acts as a proxy group for Iran — will launch an offensive utilizing the Shaheds, according to Kan News.

Dozens of Iranian drones are present in Lebanon and Syria, the outlet reported. Israel has recently strengthened its Iron Dome and other aerial defense systems in the northern region due to the possibility of a drone attack.

“The Israeli understanding is that if there’s an escalation in the north, Hezbollah, the IRGC and other Shia militia groups [based in Lebanon] could use these drones, and Israel has already been preparing for [this scenario] for a long time,” Kan News reported.

In recent years, the Houthi Rebels – an Iranian proxy group – launched successful drone attacks on oil sites in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Although Saudi Arabia is not a member of the Abraham Accords, it’s widely believed that the Gulf kingdom shares information about Iranian drones and other UAVs with Israel as part of a joint effort to combat Iranian aerial terror.

During a defense conference at Reichman University in November 2021, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that “Iran is not only using unmanned aerial vehicles to attack, but also to carry out weapons transfers to its proxies.”

He added that Iran has launched maritime attacks using UAVs from bases in the Islamic Republic’s south.

“UAVs are an accurate weapon that can reach strategic targets within thousands of kilometers, and thus this capability is already endangering Sunni countries, international forces in the Middle East and also countries in Europe and Africa,” Gantz said.