The paramilitary wing of the Lebanese political party Hezbollah on April 21 used a surface to air missile to destroy an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Southern Lebanon, marking the latest development in over six months of escalating hostilities between the two opposing forces. “Islamic resistance fighters shot down an enemy drone over the Al Aishiyeh area in southern Lebanon at 10:50 p.m. [19:50 GMT] on Sunday,” a statement from Hezbollah claimed, with this later confirmed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The IDF subsequently claimed that it had launched air strikes to neutralise the Hezbollah air defence sites responsible, and subsequently pledged that it would continue to operate aircraft in Lebanese airspace to safeguard Israeli interests. The shootdown of the Israeli aircraft follows prior successes by Hezbollah’s air defences on April 6, when another Israeli Hermes 450 and a Hermes 900 were shot down. The Hermes 450 has been evaluated highly positively in Western assessments, particularly compared to its European and American equivalents fulfilling comparable roles, while the larger Hermes 900, with an estimated cost of $30 million, is among the most high value unmanned aircraft in the Israeli inventory.
Hezbollah is credited with having dealt Israel the only defeat in its history during a 34 day war from July-August 2006, and subsequently from 2013 played a central role supporting Syrian government counterinsurgency efforts against militants supported by Israel and many of its strategic partners within NATO. The militia has demonstrated increasingly advanced military capabilities during its clashes with Israeli forces over the past six months, including use of drones and artillery to suppress Israeli Iron Dome air defence batteries, use of precision guided rocket artillery to disable a key airbase in early January, and use of sophisticated ‘fire and forget’ anti tank weapons to strike Israeli armour. One of its most significant recent military operations was initiated on December 6, and saw precision guided rocket artillery used to target a major Israeli air surveillance facility near the Lebanese border atop Mount Meron – the highest summit held by Israeli forces other than in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Shows of force by the militia have played an important role in sustaining the deterrence it was first able to establish through its military successes in 2006.