Remains of the Iranian drone downed by Israel
The Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s threat Thursday night of more UAV’s over Israel aroused concern in the Israeli high command that Iranian drones had been smuggled into the hands of the Palestinian Hamas extremists ruling the Gaza Strip. He implied that Tehran or Hizballah might ask Hamas to release them over Israel, possibly in coordination with UAV intrusions from Lebanon.
After rolling out Hizballah statistics claiming Israel had violated Lebanese airspace 20, 864 times (!), Nasrallah said in his televised speech: “This is our natural right and we will send them whenever we want and this will not be the last time.”
The successful penetration of two Iranian stealth drones – one from the Gaza Strip and one from Lebanon – would be celebrated in Tehran and Beirut as a major feat against the Zionist enemy, say DEBKAfile’s military sources – especially after last Saturday, Oct. 6, when an Iranian UAV, which Nasrallah named “Ayyoub,” managed to fly over strategic Israeli sites including the nuclear reactor in Dimona before it was brought down.
Israeli surveillance has noted unusual Hamas activity of late to camouflage certain sites in the Gaza Strip, raising the suspicion that Hamas or the Iranian-backed Jihad Islami had taken delivery of a drone, drones or the disassembled components thereof.
