Hezbollah’s drones are a fierce and evasive threat to Israel

One of the worst mass casualty strikes on Israel in a year of war came not from dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles nor the repeated barrages of rocket fire launched by Hamas and Hezbollah. Instead, it was a single drone.

The unmanned aerial vehicle, laden with explosives, evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defence system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens.

It’s the latest achievement for Hezbollah’s drone fleet and has shined a light on Israel’s struggle over the past year of war to knock down unmanned aircraft incoming from as far away as Yemen, Iraq and Iran.

Over the years, Israel has built up its aerial defence array to provide broad protection against short-range rocket fire and medium- and long-range missiles, although experts caution it is not airtight. While the system has taken down drones repeatedly, many have penetrated Israel’s airspace and sidestepped its defences, in some cases with deadly results.

The drone traversed Israeli airspace unimpeded

On Sunday evening, reports emerged of a mass casualty event about 65km (40 miles) from the Lebanese border. A drone had slammed into a mess hall filled with troops eating dinner, according to Israeli media, killing four soldiers and wounding 67 people.