TEHRAN- Hezbollah’s drones have become a thorn in the side of Israel, exposing the regime’s Achilles heel amid its aggression against Lebanon.

Israel's susceptibility to drone attacks has come under scrutiny after one of its military bases was struck at the weekend. 

On Sunday, Oct. 13, the Lebanese resistance movement carried out a drone attack against the Golani Brigade’s base. It is an elite Israeli infantry unit near Haifa. The drone penetrated Israeli air defenses undetected killing four soldiers and injuring dozens of others. 

The unmanned aerial vehicle hit the target successfully without triggering Israel’s alert systems. The regime’s troops were attacked without any warning.

Israel’s major headache 

CNN has called the Hezbollah drone strike a “major headache” for Israel despite launching a major bombardment campaign and a ground operation against Lebanon. 

Daniel Sobelman, an international security expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (al-Quds), told CNN that the drone attack shows the resistance movement is still able to strike Israel. 

Orna Mizrahi, a senior research fellow at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, also told the American news channel that such drone attacks are indicative of Israel’s “weakness”. 

She also referred to the strikes carried out by regional resistance groups against Israel, saying, “Every time we find a solution for something, they find another way to attack.”

This is not the first time that Hezbollah’s drones have caught Israel off guard. 

In June, Hezbollah released a nine-minute video filmed by a drone showing Israeli military sites and other strategic locations in and around Haifa. It went undetected by the Israeli army. 

The drone mission humiliated Israel, highlighting its inability to detect and intercept such aircraft. 

Israeli aggression 

The Golani Brigade has been deployed to southern Lebanon as part of Israel’s ground operation there.

Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon on September 23 which was followed by a ground incursion into southern Lebanon a week later. 

Israel also assassinated Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on a neighborhood in southern Beirut on September 27. 

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since the regime launched war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.  Hezbollah has hit Israeli military positions in solidarity with Palestinians in the enclave. 

Israel has killed more than 2,300 people in Lebanon since October last year.  

Israel has killed civilians in Lebanon but has failed to make progress during its ground offensive. 

Since the start of the ground operation two weeks ago, more than a dozen Israeli troops have been killed on the battlefield and many more have been injured. 

Hezbollah has not only dealt crushing blows to the Israeli army on the ground but it has also imposed painful costs on the regime through its drone and missile attacks. 

For now, in addition to missile power, Hezbollah’s drone capabilities have opened a new chapter in resistance against Israel. The Sunday’s drone attack could mark the start of Hezbollah’s drone empire potentially keeping Israel in a state of heightened alert indefinitely.