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On February 18, a patrol boat of the Israeli Navy was spotted on fire off the coast of the northern Israeli city of Nahariyya.
A photo posted to social media showed thick black smoke rising from the boat, which appears to be either a Super Dvora Mk II or III armed high-speed patrol boat.
Hebrew media didn’t clarify the cause of the fire or report any casualties. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is yet to make any comment.
The Super Dvora is a high-speed class of patrol boats that is used for a variety of naval missions from typical off-shore coastal patrol mission profiles to high-speed, high-maneuver littoral warfare. Two boats of the MK II version and 13 from the newest MK III version are in service with the Israeli Navy.
A short while before the reports of the incident broke out, Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV, which is close to Hezbollah, said that an interceptor missile launched from northern Israel exploded off the coast of Lebanon.
It is very possible that the Israeli boat was targeted by Hezbollah, who reportedly possess a large arsenal of anti-ship weapons ranging from short-range missile like the Iranian-made Kowsar to suicide drones modified to attack vessels.
The incident came just two days after Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed to escalate attacks on the IDF in response to the deaths of 11 Lebanese civilians killed in Israeli attacks earlier this week, saying Israel would pay a price “in blood.”
Hezbollah first demonstrated its ability to attack Israeli Navy ships during the war of 2006 when it successfully used anti-ship missiles to hit the Sa’ar 5-class corvette Hanit, killing at least four sailors.
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