Hezbollah Drone That Killed 4 Soldiers Fooled IDF by Dropping Under Radar — Probe

Source: The Times of Israel

The Hezbollah drone that struck an IDF training base Sunday evening and killed four soldiers fell off of radars, then reappeared briefly before hitting its target, according to the Israeli Air Force’s initial investigation into the attack.

According to details of the IAF investigation shared with The Times of Israel, the Hezbollah drone was part of a multi-pronged aerial attack. The Lebanese terror group fired short-range rockets at the north, three precision rockets toward Haifa, and launched three drones at Israel last night.

One of the drones was shot down by the navy, another by the Iron Dome.

The third was pursued by Israeli jets and helicopters, which fired at it twice, according to the IAF investigation. Electronic warfare measures also failed to force the UAV to lose its bearings. It dropped off radars 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Acre, and the IAF assumed that it had crashed.

The IAF investigation into the incident found that the drone appeared back on radars for another minute in the half-hour between its dropping off of screens and the strike, but forces did not identify it as a drone at the time, and therefore did not trigger warning alarms. There are hundreds of objects flying in Israeli airspace just above buildings at any given time, including birds, adding to the challenge of identifying a drone that appears in an unexpected location.

In addition, police told the IAF of reports of a suspicious aircraft near Yokne’am, which could have been the drone.

Over the course of the war, some 1,200 drones have been fired at Israel, and 221 have gotten through Israel’s defenses.

In light of the incident, the air force is expanding the areas of warning, meaning there will be more sirens and more false alarms. It will also assume a drone is still flying when it disappears, and will determine that it has crashed only when evidence is found.

In the wake of the deadly strike, the IAF has also set a goal of completely eliminating Hezbollah’s Unit 127, responsible for its UAV production, maintenance and operation, The Times of Israel has learned.

The effort to kill every member of the unit will now take priority, in terms of intelligence collection and airstrikes.

All four of the soldiers killed in the attack were in combat training and were promoted to the rank of sergeant posthumously.

A further 58 soldiers were wounded, with 40 still hospitalized as of Monday morning.

An official investigation found that the explosive-laden drone hit the base while soldiers were eating dinner. Investigators assume that the timing and location of the attack were intentional.

An IDF promotional video about the base uploaded to an official website six years ago showed the location of the dining hall and other buildings, Haaretz reported.