Click to see full-size image. Via X.
On February 9, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that a “suspicious aerial target” was intercepted over the sea near the northern city of Haifa.
The aerial target was shot down using the Iron Dome air defense system, the IDF said in a brief statement, noting that no sirens were sounded according to protocol.
A video that surfaced on social media showed the launch of an interceptor missile from an area located near Haifa’s port towards the sea.
Later, suspected drone infiltration alarms sounded in the Upper Galilee, which is located a few kilometers away from the territory of Lebanon and Syria, according to Hebrew media. No blasts or interceptions were reported, however.
The aerial target shot down by the IDF near Haifa may have been a drone launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah on an attack or a reconnaissance mission.
Another possibility is that the target was a drone or a cruise missile launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of armed factions that opposes Israel. The group announced attacks on targets in Haifa and a gas rig off Israeli shores in the past.
The IDF have intercepted dozens of aerial targets over northern and southern Israel since the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. These incidents highlight the war -which has so far claimed the lives of 27,000 Palestinians- have only increased threats to Israel.
