Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for destroying the Israeli High Availability Aerostat System, also known as “Sky Dew,” which is used for high altitude surveillance and monitoring of missile and drone activity from Lebanon.
Geolocation
The base is located near Giv’at Avni, Lower Galilee region, which is some 20 miles from the border with Lebanon. An image showing the destroyed aerostat can be geolocated to the facility (32°46’2.42″N, 35°25’29.29″E).
Reactions
In a statement, Hezbollah said that “an air attack was launched by a number of drones on the Ilian base, west of the city of Tiberias, targeting part of the comprehensive surveillance and detection system of the Air Force, and hit their precisely defined targets, and achieved what it wanted from this limited operation.”
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— Yossi Melman (@yossi_melman) May 16, 2024
Israeli security and military affairs expert, Yossi Melman, called the strike a “strategic achievement for Hezbollah,” highlighting the drones’ ability to evade Israeli air defenses to reach a key air defense site.
Avi Ashkenazi, a military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Maariv, stated that the strike was “extremely important in terms of its impact” and is being “comprehensively investigated at the highest levels.”