Hezbollah’s air defense units “fired an anti-aircraft missile” at Israeli warplanes flying over south Lebanon”, forcing them “to retreat from the Lebanese airspace”, according to a communiqué published by Hezbollah on the night of Thursday to Friday. Is it a game changer or an incident that can be exploited politically by Hezbollah?
Contacted by This Is Beirut, retired army general and general director of Regional Forum Consultancy and Studies (RFSC), Khaled Hamade, believes that “a simple communiqué would not be enough to substantiate Hezbollah’s declaration, given especially that the Americans and Israelis mentioned nothing about it.”
Hamade said. “We have no information on the type of missile used or its capacity when it comes to the defense of the Lebanese airspace.” In this same context, the retired general explained that “state-of-the-art missiles, which should normally be a threat to the Israeli air force, are part of a radar and electronic jamming system. Therefore, they cannot be easily concealed.”