Report: Hizbullah's Drone Photographed Secret Israeli Military Bases
Hizbullah's, Iranian-made, drone that penetrated Israel surveilled live images of “secret” Israeli military bases, according to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.
The newspaper reported that the drone transmitted pictures of preparations for Israel's “biggest” joint military exercise with the U.S. army, which began last week.
The drone also photographed “Israel's ballistic missile sites, main airfields and, possibly, its nuclear reactor in Dimona,” the newspaper pointed out.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's acknowledgment of the drone which Israel shot down on October 6 came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hizbullah and vowed to defend his country against further "threats."
The infiltration marked a rare breach of Israel's tightly guarded airspace. Hizbullah had been the leading suspect because of its arsenal of sophisticated Iranian weapons and a history of trying to deploy similar aircraft.
Middle East sources told the Sunday Times that the drone was launched by “technicians from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, with the help of Hizbullah.”
According to the newspaper, the drone “is believed to be the new Shahed-129, which was unveiled by Tehran, with a range of up to 1,200 miles and a flight duration of 24 hours.”
An Israeli defense source blamed “unfamiliar stealth elements” for the army's failure to detect it.
Iran unveiled in September a long-range drone named Shahed-129, which can reach most of the Middle East countries, including Israel.
In July 2006, the Israeli military shot down an unarmed drone operated by Hizbullah over the Jewish state's territorial waters.
On April 12, 2005, another pilotless Hizbullah aircraft succeeded in overflying part of northern Israel without being downed.
Israel routinely sends F-16 fighter planes over Lebanon, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war. The Israeli planes have often broken the sound barrier over Beirut and other places as a show of strength, most recently after the drone incident.
Thousands of U.S. and Israeli troops began a joint exercise last week to show their ability to defend the country against a missile attack that is expected to follow any air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
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