Israel has a new goal after a Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) killed four IDF soldiers and wounded dozens: Eliminate Hezbollah’s entire UAV unit. The Times of Israel, who first reported the new goal, said that this effort is now a priority in the ongoing war with the Lebanese terror group. The plan is broad, aiming to take out everyone engaged in Hezbollah’s entire UAV program, including production of the drones.
The report comes as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his American counterpart Lloyd Austin that a “forceful response that would be taken against Hezbollah” following the heavy casualty UAV attack on Sunday night. An Israeli readout of the call published by Israel said Gallant “highlighted the severity of the attack” and “reiterated the ongoing threats posed by Hezbollah and the importance of operating to dismantle the organization’s attack infrastructure.”
In addition, Gallant visited the IDF base hit by the Hezbollah UAV on Monday morning and was quoted in an Israeli press release as telling the soldiers, “We are concentrating significant efforts in developing solutions to address the threat of UAV attacks.”
Meanwhile, Israel isn’t only concerned with Hezbollah UAVs. On Monday, the Israeli Air Force eliminated Samer Abu-Daqa, the head of Hamas’ air command who was among those behind the UAV and paraglider attack during the October 7, 2023 terror massacre. According to the Hebrew IDF feed on X (formerly Twitter) and translated by Google, Abu-Daqa “was responsible for many acts of terrorism in the airspace, including the launching of drones and UAVs” and “was a key source of knowledge in the Hamas air force and took a central part in its establishment.”
The IDF reported that Abu-Daqa replaced the Hamas air command leader who was eliminated in October 2023. In addition, Abu-Daqa had served as the head of Hamas’ UAV unit until 2021.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, October 14, 2024)