Hezbollah claims to have hit an Iron Dome launcher with a guided missile in what could be the first hit on the defence system.
The Lebanon-based group released a video on Wednesday that appeared to confirm its claims.
The 90-second clip, captured from the missile’s onboard camera, shows it flying towards an Iron Dome launcher at a military base in Ramot Naftali in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon. The feed cuts out just before impact.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was not aware of any damage to its launchers.
It could be the first time that a missile launcher – one part of the Iron Dome along with radar and control centres – had been hit in an attack, though it remains unclear what damage, if any, was done.
“It appears Hezbollah did hit the Iron Dome launcher with a guided missile,” said Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Palestinian terrorist groups have been trying to do this for years, but I’ve never seen evidence they were successful.”
Hezbollah operates an arsenal of sophisticated guided missiles, many sent by its backers in Iran, and regularly uses them in attacks on Israeli territory.
Iranian state media reported on the targeting of the missile launcher.
Tehran also backs other terror groups and militias in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, as part of its network of proxies arrayed against its long-time rival Israel.
Hezbollah and the IDF have been trading fire along the border between Lebanon and Israel ever since war broke out in the Middle East last October.
While Hezbollah’s leaders have claimed that they aren’t interested in a major escalation of violence with Israel, the group has continued engaging in crossfire along the border in solidarity with Hamas.
Eight months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, fears are growing that skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah will erupt into a greater regional conflict and drag Lebanon into war.
Additional reporting by Abu Bakr Bashir