Advanced Israeli Drone Downed by Hezbollah Forces
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Fighters from the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah shot down an advanced Israeli drone over southern Lebanon.
“The Islamic Resistance confirms that the enemy drone that its fighters shot down in the airspace of the al-Aishiya area in southern Lebanon is a Hermes 450,” the movement said in a late Sunday statement, Press TV reported.
Hezbollah added in its statement that the Israeli Hermes 450 drone was shot down when “it was attacking our honorable and steadfast people.”
It said shooting down of the drone was part of the movement’s operations carried out in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Hours later, the Israeli regime’s military said in a statement that one of its drones operating in the skies of Lebanon had been hit by a surface-to-air missile.
The Hermes 450 drone, which is made by Israel’s Elbit company, has an endurance of over 20 hours and its primary mission is reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay. However, it can also carry up to four missiles for offensive operations.
The drone has a wingspan of 10.6 meters, weighs 550 kilograms, and its Hebrew name is Zik.
The new achievement came after earlier in April, Hezbollah fighters managed to shoot down an advanced Hermes 900 Israeli drone over Lebanese territory.
The Israeli army admitted that the drone had crashed in Lebanese territory after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.
With a wingspan of 15 meters, Hermes 900 is the second-largest reconnaissance drone in the Israeli air force.
The Israeli regime has been waging sporadic attacks against the Lebanese soil since October 7, 2023, when it launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 34,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Hezbollah has been retaliating against the regime's attacks, conducting daily operations against targets throughout the occupied territories in solidarity with the war-hit Gazans.
The resistance movement fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, forcing a humiliating retreat on the Tel Aviv regime’s military in both cases.
The movement has vowed to resolutely defend Lebanon in case of any other Israeli-imposed war.
