‘The North Turned into Hell’: What Lies Behind Hezbollah's Escalation of Attacks against ‘Israel’?

With the ongoing aggression against Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon began escalating its attacks on Israeli settlements in northern occupied Palestinian territories since May 2024.

By early June, the party intensified its actions with unprecedentedly intense assaults using half-ton explosive-laden rockets and suicide drones equipped with cameras, precisely hitting their targets.

After initially supporting Gaza factions to divert and drain part of the Israeli Occupation army at the onset of the aggression, Hezbollah's strategy shifted dramatically following Iran's April 2024 attack on “Israel,” seemingly continuing an Iranian deterrence plan.

The target bank shifted from psychological pressure on northern occupied Palestinian settlements and displacing settlers to exerting substantial pressure on the Tel Aviv government, resembling a quasi-comprehensive confrontation that included targeting vital military barracks.

This campaign included the destruction of surveillance towers, radar detection systems, espionage devices, and Iron Dome batteries to completely blindside “Israel” and facilitate strikes on its critical military centers.

Alarm sirens persist due to approximately 11 daily Hezbollah attacks, launching at least 20 to 50 missiles and suicide drones targeting military objectives and bases, according to Israeli media reports.

The ongoing Gaza conflict has intensified the hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border over the past month, heightening fears that the heavily armed opponents might escalate into a devastating war for both nations. 

Recently, Hezbollah has increased its offensive measures, deploying a greater number of explosive drones simultaneously, utilizing a new type of rocket, and, for the first time, claiming to have targeted Israeli aircraft — a significant development for the group, as noted by a source knowledgeable about Hezbollah's weaponry.

Most Dangerous Attacks 

With the heat and rising temperatures in June, life for settlers in northern “Israel” and the occupied Syrian Golan turned into hellish pieces due to Hezbollah rockets and suicide missions that turned several areas into massive fires.

Shin Bet data revealed that 1,000 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards targets in “Israel” during May 2024, marking a record escalation in the border clashes sparked by the aggression on Gaza.

April 2024 saw the launch of around 744 rockets, 746 in March, 534 in February, and 334 in January 2024, indicating a continuous escalation according to Israeli newspapers.

The party chose to intensify and expand strikes on new areas not evacuated by settlers, such as Acre (51,000 inhabitants), Nahariyya (58,000 inhabitants), and Katzrin (7,000 inhabitants), in addition to Kiryat Shmona (23,000 inhabitants) and others.

The bombing no longer targets only military objectives but also aims directly at the Iron Dome and its radars.

Israeli newspapers even reported that one of the targets destroyed by Hezbollah deep inside “Israel” was the EL/M-2080s super green pine radar, designed to detect and intercept ballistic missiles, valued at $90 million.

At the beginning of June 2024, Hezbollah conducted an aerial attack with a squadron of assault drones on the headquarters of the Yerden military battalion in the occupied Golan Heights, targeting the Iron Dome radar and officers' and soldiers' centers, resulting in the radar's destruction and casualties.

On June 2, Hezbollah executed three massive operations, including the destruction of the Biranit military base in northern occupied Palestine with Burkan missiles.

The danger of destroying this strategic site is that it places the Israeli Occupation state under the threat of invasion by the al-Quds Brigades, similar to what the military wing of Hamas did during Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on June 2, 2024, that Hezbollah launched two ballistic missiles of the Burkan type at Kiryat Shmona town in northern “Israel,” each carrying half-ton explosives.

Burkan missiles can penetrate shelters and cause damage to a military base in Kiryat Shmona, and the Israeli army admitted that the base suffered severe damage, publishing photos of the destruction.

Although Burkan is not a precision missile, it is capable of inflicting material damage. Hezbollah has developed it under Iranian supervision, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The party also destroyed the headquarters of Brigade 769 in Kiryat Shmona with Burkan missiles, and the Israeli Occupation media acknowledged serious damage at the headquarters, with videos leaked by Israeli soldiers showing the extent of the destruction there.

This headquarters plays a vital role, especially in cyber surveillance, securing borders from sudden intrusions, and coordinating operations of forces operating in the north in general.

Additionally, Hezbollah downed the sixth American Hermes 900 UAV that was being controlled by ground troops.

It demonstrated that it possessed anti-aircraft capabilities that shot down advanced Israeli drones like Hermes 450 and Hermes 900.

Before that, the party targeted an Israeli spy balloon launch and control base above the Admit area in northern occupied territories, causing the balloon to malfunction and crash.

On May 26, 2024, one of the most intense days of confrontations occurred between the two sides, with Hezbollah reporting 8 fatalities in southern Lebanon—the highest number since October 8. This spike in casualties followed Tel Aviv's drone strikes targeting Hezbollah fighters in Naqoura, Ayta ash-Shab, Kfarchouba, and other villages.

Hezbollah retaliated fiercely, targeting new settlements previously untouched such as the command headquarters of the Abyssinia and Biranit Israeli battalions with heavy Burkan rockets, resulting in fires and partial destruction.

Following the escalation on June 2, Hezbollah unleashed a barrage of rockets on the settlement of Katzrin south of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, igniting fires on approximately 2500 acres of land during the attack.

To illustrate the scale of destruction, on June 3, 2024, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported warnings from Israel Nature and Parks Authority of a catastrophe, as some completely burned areas will take several years to recover, indicating that settlers are abandoning the area.

The flames consumed large areas of the mountains surrounding Kiryat Shmona, reaching the homes of settlers, and forcing those remaining in the area, where a large part of its inhabitants was evacuated, due to the spread of fires and bombardment of the place.

The fires extended to one of the Israeli Occupation army bases in the Margaliot area, and more than 30 active points in Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, Safed, Upper Galilee, and others in northern occupied Palestine were also affected, according to Hebrew newspapers.

“Israel” declared a state of emergency, and firefighters from across the entity were called in to assist in extinguishing the fires that engulfed dozens of homes and began to spiral out of control in some areas.

The fires reached Acre and Nahariyya as well within Hezbollah's operational range, which launched suicide drones and rockets on them. A drone bomber struck an area in Nahariyya after the so-called Iron Dome failed to intercept it.

Fires also broke out in settlements such as Metula, Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Netafim, Eilabun, Mevo Hama, Netu'a, Tel Saki, and near Shelomi in the western Galilee, leading to the displacement of some residents.

Al-Manar TV reported about 2,000 operations conducted by the latter so far, confirming that the bombardment continues targeting cities and military bases of the Israeli Occupation.

Three Military Styles 

The Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported on June 2, 2024, citing sources in the Israeli army, that Hezbollah has adopted three new military tactics in its latest escalation amid the ongoing confrontations on the Lebanese border.

The first of these new styles involved launching rockets and random shells through the deployment of Soviet rockets on vehicles or trucks, fired from deep within southern Lebanon with such intensity that alarms did not cease warning settlers.

The second style was the launch of Burkan rockets, whose explosive power, half-ton explosives, covered the significant damage caused despite their lack of accuracy.

The third and most dangerous new operational mechanism adopted by Hezbollah involves using Iranian offensive drones known for their high accuracy, some equipped with cameras ensuring precise targeting, making interception difficult.

During Hezbollah's targeting of deep settlements, it used drones to disrupt the Iron Dome, followed by suicide (raiding) drones hitting their target.

Hebrew newspapers claim Hezbollah crossed so-called red lines, killing and injuring soldiers, destroying hundreds of homes, and burning thousands of agricultural acres with thousands of rockets and shells.

It crossed the red lines by destroying border monitoring and control systems, inflicting severe damage on military bases, leaving only Hezbollah's Redwan Brigade to invade northern “Israel,” as Hamas did in the south.

Estimates from the Israeli army and security agencies published by Yedioth Ahronoth on June 2, 2024, indicate that Hezbollah has used only 5% of its weapons since the start of the war, preparing for a broader conflict with “Israel.”

Amir Boukhbout, the military correspondent for the Hebrew site Walla, wrote at the beginning of June 2024, describing the toughest month of May in the fight against Hezbollah, confirming the collapse of Israeli deterrence in the north.

Boukhbout spoke of Hezbollah's skill in creating a battlefield exhausted for “Israel,” even managing to destroy the military facility from which the Tal Shamayim balloon was launched, supposed to monitor and warn of Hezbollah threats.

He affirmed that the party, which initially used old weapons in battle, began to use drones carrying suicide explosives targeted accurately, and drones carrying anti-aircraft missiles that can be launched towards the target.

Boukhbout said that Israeli military estimates indicate that since early May 2024, Hezbollah has conducted 305 attacks from southern Lebanon, compared to 237 attacks in April 2024, increasing the range of fire each month.

According to another report from Alma Research and Education Center in “Israel” on June 2, 2024, Hezbollah launched 325 attacks on settlements in northern occupied Palestine in May at a rate of 11 attacks per day, while the number of Hezbollah attacks was 238 in April, at a rate of 8 strikes per day, they also became more intense in terms of quantity and type.

Escalation Implications

Analysts see what is happening not as random attacks where the party strikes any military target, but as systematic operations aimed at creating a conducive environment to weaken the Israeli Occupation and turn its spy devices, surveillance, and radars into blind scrap, not able to see or monitor any targets, improving the resistance's combat situation.

They explained that Hezbollah is trying to take advantage of the exhaustion the Israeli Occupation army has faced due to eight months of war in Gaza and increased pressure on it.

Hezbollah sought to disable surveillance capabilities and destroy command posts, expanding the target bank to include new settlements aimed at increasing the displacement of Israelis from them and pressuring their government, expanding the deterrence equation, after the Israeli Occupation had threatened to return Lebanon to the Stone Age.

Hezbollah also aimed to prepare the ground for a potential ground assault on these settlements in the event of escalation, similar to what occurred during Operation a-Aqsa Flood.

This is what Israelis fear, who have threatened several times to invade southern Lebanon, but Gaza ties them and curbs their escalation in the north.

They confirmed that Hezbollah targeted with this step the confusion of Israeli calculations; some of its officials had threatened to return the displaced to northern settlements to their homes before September 2024, only to see thousands more leaving their settlements.

Among the 60,000 Israelis who were evacuated from the north at the beginning of the aggression, there are 14,600 children, scattered in kindergartens, temporary schools, or buildings repurposed as daycare centers or temporary classrooms, according to Reuters on June 4, 2024, hindering the start of the academic year scheduled for early September.

Tal Perry, head of research at Alma Research and Education Center in “Israel, confirmed on May 10, 2024, that Hezbollah is ready for war at any moment and is not afraid of it, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

These plans have perplexed decision-makers in the Israeli Occupation state and put them in a dilemma regarding Hezbollah's escalation, as evacuating new settlements in the north means further collapse of the deterrence equation on the northern front.

Another team linked the timing of Hezbollah's intensified attacks against “Israel” with advanced weapons, unlike the initial period of clashes that began after Operation al-Aqsa Flood, and Iranian attacks on Tel Aviv on April 13, 2024.

They explained this escalation as possibly coming as an Iranian response to recent Israeli attacks, part of an Iranian escalation plan, or as a continuation of attacks conducted by Tehran against “Israel” aimed at maintaining the deterrence status between the parties.

The Jerusalem Post hinted on June 3, 2024, at Iran's role in intensifying Hezbollah's attacks and the eagerness of Tehran's proxies to strike “Israel."

It clarified that Iran moves its agents against “Israel” and observes and learns from Israeli reactions, and with Hezbollah's increased attacks, it is likely that its other proxies will gain more audacity.

Another reason for Hezbollah's escalation is also its increasing losses, so it responds with intense shelling deeper into northern occupied territories, according to a political analyst for Haaretz newspaper, Amos Harel, on June 3, 2024.

He affirmed that the casualty rate on the Lebanese side in the northern battle is much higher, with Hezbollah counting around 330 of its fighters killed.

Additionally, the number of civilians evacuated from the border area on the Lebanese side is twice the number of displaced persons on the Israeli side.

On the Lebanese side, around 90,000 civilians were also evacuated, about a third of them children, according to United Nations figures.

The party has lost a large part of its military infrastructure near the border, but it continues to perplex “Israel.”

He stressed that the failure of the Israeli Occupation army to make progress in the Gaza Strip affects the northern borders and brings “Israel” closer to losing control.

He said that this escalation increases popular pressure on the Israeli government to respond significantly or conduct a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Therefore, the possibility of a comprehensive war looms on the horizon, threatening much greater destruction in the north, where scenes of fires have become constant.

He explained that the danger of this Lebanese escalation and Israeli failure to confront or deter it extends what is happening in Gaza.

Israel demands that Hezbollah be pushed back beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon through an international settlement based on UN Resolution 1701.

Tel Aviv threatened that if the international political settlement fails, it will move militarily to push Hezbollah away from the borders.

On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701, which calls for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and “Israel” after a 33-day war.

The resolution calls for the establishment of an area between the Blue Line (the demarcation line between Lebanon and “Israel”) and the Litani River that is free of any armed personnel, military equipment, and weapons, except those belonging to the Lebanese army and the temporary UN force (UNIFIL).

Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati had previously affirmed his country's readiness to implement UN Resolution 1701 "to the letter," conditional on Israeli withdrawal from occupied border territories demanded by Lebanon.

However, Tel Aviv maneuvers and evades, desiring to implement only half of Resolution 1701, specifically regarding pushing Hezbollah away from the borders.