Behind the scenes: How Israeli intel uncovered Hezbollah's drone network
A glimpse into the hunt for Hezbollah's Unit 127, which during the war managed to attack deep inside Israeli territory.
An intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel N., head of "Lebanon affairs" in the Israeli Air Force's intelligence division, has been tracking Hezbollah's Unit 127 for over two years, the same unit the IDF attacked on Thursday in Beirut's southern suburb, Dahiyeh.
This unit is responsible for importing, manufacturing, and deploying various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Lebanon into Israel.
During the war, the terrorists succeeded in striking locations within Israel and killing civilians and soldiers, most notably in the Golani base attack, which claimed soldiers' lives.
At the height of the northern conflict, Lt. Col. N. led efforts to uncover the secrets of this small Hezbollah unit, significantly disrupting its leadership, key figures, and infrastructure. About six weeks ago, he used intelligence gathered with his team to strike targets in Lebanon.
On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force launched a major attack in the heart of Dahiyeh targeting Unit 127's drone infrastructure.
What has happened in recent months with Hezbollah's Unit 127?
'Hezbollah took a significant beating over the course of the war and is now attempting to regroup by all means. They identified the threat posed by UAVs and invested heavily in them with Iranian support. We detected the plans and their desire to increase production. We are trying to surround Hezbollah with a tightening ring—not only militarily, but also economically, particularly regarding their weapons access and mass production efforts,' the Israeli intelligence source said.
Why did you attack last night?
Lt. Col. N. responded: 'There was compelling evidence of [the location of] sites involved in UAV manufacturing. The operation was complicated because it took place in a civilian area—Hezbollah operates beneath the civilian population in Dahiyeh. They believed civilians would shield them, preventing us from attacking. But thanks to our intelligence, we ensured extensive evacuations; no munitions were deployed before we confirmed that no civilians were present. We made a genuine effort to preserve human life while carrying out our strikes.'
What did you target?
'We hit seven targets: five in Beirut and two in southern Lebanon,' Lt. Col. N. confirmed.
How is Hezbollah operating differently from the peak of the war?
'I believe they're trying to evade Israeli detection now. But there's no magic solution for them. To build and deploy UAVs, they must go through several stages that we can detect and counter. They assumed civilians would protect them, but we must constantly innovate against this cruel enemy,' the intelligence source stated.
What will the future hold?
'This is an ongoing contest. Our goal is always to remain one step ahead. These strikes are the best form of defense - preventing the enemy from obtaining sufficient capabilities in numbers or quality to pose a real threat,' Lt. Col. N. said.
What was Lebanon's reaction to last night's strikes in Dahiyeh, the heart of Hezbollah country?
'So far, it's quiet. Northern Israeli residents did not feel that the attack happened. We hope this calm continues. As far as I'm concerned, the fact that Israeli civilians can travel in the north today is itself an important achievement,' Lt. Col. N. concluded.
No official Lebanese response has been issued yet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
33 minutes ago
Lebanon aims to lure back wealthy Gulf tourists to jumpstart its war-torn economy
BEIRUT -- Fireworks lit up the night sky over Beirut's famous St. Georges Hotel as hit songs from the 1960s and 70s filled the air in a courtyard overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The retro-themed event was hosted last month by Lebanon's Tourism Ministry to promote the upcoming summer season and perhaps recapture some of the good vibes from an era viewed as a golden one for the country. In the years before a civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was the go-to destination for wealthy tourists from neighboring Gulf countries seeking beaches in summer, snow-capped mountains in winter and urban nightlife year-round. In the decade after the war, tourists from Gulf countries – and crucially, Saudi Arabia – came back, and so did Lebanon's economy. But by the early 2000s, as the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah gained power, Lebanon's relations with Gulf countries began to sour. Tourism gradually dried up, starving its economy of billions of dollars in annual spending. Now, after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products. 'Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted,' said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism minister. On the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read 'a new era for Lebanon.' In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the rise. There are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel bans. All eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military arsenal. As vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20% of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back together. Lebanon's agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. 'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. At the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. 'I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years,' he said. On a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path. 'We are happy, and everyone here is happy,' said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. 'After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full.' Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and waste. Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain" rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. "But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
San Francisco Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, as it continues its military offensive across the strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to health officials. The Prime Minister's office said Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the government. This comes two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead. The defense minister said Saturday that Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture. A statement from the hostage forum, which supports the hostages, said it stands with Pinta's family and shares in their grief. It called on the country's decision makers to bring home the remaining hostages and give those who have died a proper burial. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first. A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One strike hit an apartment killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital. Israel said Saturday that it's responding to Hamas' 'barbaric attacks' and is dismantling its capabilities. It said it follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. ——
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Israel says it forewarned Beirut of Hezbollah strike yet gov't, army did not act
Israeli officials informed Lebanon of its intended strike on Hezbollah terror targets in Dahiyeh a week prior. Beirut did not respond to Israel's forewarning that it planned to strike terror targets from Hezbollah's Aerial Unit in Dahiyeh, Israeli officials said on Saturday, according to a report from KAN. Israel officials informed Lebanon of its intent to strike Hezbollah's Unit 127 drone infrastructure a week prior, KAN said, however, no response was taken by the Lebanese government or army. The attack on Unit 127 took place on Thursday. Israeli Air Force's "head of Lebanon affairs," intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel N., had been tracking Hezbollah's Unit 127 for over two years. The unit is responsible for importing, manufacturing, and deploying various unmanned aerial vehicles (AUVs) from Lebanon into Israel. "We hit seven targets: five in Beirut and two in southern Lebanon," Lt. Col. N. confirmed. The IDF specifically targeted Al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, and Burj Al-Barajneh in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh, as well as several specific buildings, IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Thursday. The sites were "deliberately established in the heart of the civilian population in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut," the IDF said. Evacuation warnings were issued to Lebanese residents prior to the attack. "The Lebanese government must disarm the terrorist organization in Hezbollah. You must ensure that the Lebanese army truly enforces the ceasefire agreement and not through coordinated displays," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in response to condemnations of the attack by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, KAN alleged. The French Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the attack in a post of Twitter/X on Friday, calling for "all the parties to abide by the ceasefire."
