Drone or bird? Inside Israel’s mistaken alerts along Lebanon’s border

Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

“What’s happening? Is there a drone? Has it started? God, let it be birds!” Sometimes, these questions begin before the truth becomes clear. 

An alert along the border, news spreading within seconds, eyes turning to the sky, phones in hand and WhatsApp groups scrambling to determine whether something came from Lebanon, only for the answer to emerge shortly afterward: It was a mistaken identification.

This scenario has occurred more than once in September.

On Sept. 2, alerts were triggered near the southern border after Israeli radars detected a suspicious aerial target, prompting the launch of interceptor missiles.

Following an investigation, the Israeli military said there had been no hostile drone, while Israeli media reported that the detected object was most likely birds. Similar mistaken identifications occurred on Sept. 10, 17 and 21.

How can a bird cause all this disruption?

A radar does not simply scan the sky and determine whether an object is a drone or a bird. It sends out waves and analyzes the signal reflected by the object: its approximate size, speed, direction, and movement.

The problem is that small drones and birds have something in common: They are small, fly at low altitudes, and can travel at similar speeds.

That is why advanced radar systems try to go further, analyzing even the object's subtle movements. For example, the rotation of a drone's propellers produces one pattern, while the flapping of a bird's wings produces another.

However, even with this technology, the distinction is not always clear, particularly due to interference, distance, viewing angle, and terrain.

On Sept. 17, for example, an alert was issued over a reported drone incursion, followed by the launch of an interceptor missile. The launch itself triggered additional alerts over missiles and shells in the area.

On the Lebanese side, however, these technical details are not known at the time. There is only one certainty: An alert has been issued along the border.

That is when another kind of alarm sets in, fueled by fears of a possible war and questions that may remain unanswered until the facts emerge. In a country that has endured years of drones, airstrikes, missiles, and alerts, the line between a “suspicious target” and a “mistaken identification” can be enough to trigger anxiety.