Israel-Lebanon clashes: Hezbollah targets Israeli gas platform with drone

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

For the first time since the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Hezbollah has targeted Israeli gas fields with a drone. 

On Saturday morning, the group launched a drone from Lebanon toward the Karish gas platform.

The Israeli military, which claimed to have intercepted the drone through a coordinated effort between its air force and navy, has yet to determine the drone's aim—whether it was for gathering intelligence or intended to attack Karish.

Security officials consider the drone launch a significant escalation in hostilities, viewing it as a message from Hezbollah to deter Israel from expanding the conflict with Lebanon. This incident followed airstrikes on strategic air force bases.

Meanwhile, northern command leaders are holding consultative sessions to devise a combat plan against Lebanon, pending the outcomes of ongoing diplomatic efforts. 

Politically, the Israeli government remains focused on Gaza and the prisoner exchange deal, with the northern front as a secondary priority.

An intelligence report revealed that hesitation to launch a full-scale war on Lebanon stems from fears of underground challenges, such as tunnels, ambushes, and above-ground threats. 

The report suggests that Israel's losses in a war with Lebanon could far exceed its gains. 

Additionally, the army has struggled to ensure the safety of northern residents, many of whom have chosen not to return to their homes and instead relocated to safer areas.

Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promotion of an imminent prisoner exchange deal as a potential solution to the war in Gaza and clashes with Lebanon, optimism is waning. 

Insiders familiar with Mossad Chief David Barnea's modified Israeli proposal, to be presented at Sunday's negotiations in Rome, believe that Netanyahu's insistence on specific terms—such as the conditions for Gazans returning to the north and not withdrawing from the Philadelphi Route—undermines the deal. 

They see it as an attempt to maintain a coalition government opposed to these terms.