IDF responds to Hezbollah publishing drone footage appearing to show IDF base

In June, Hezbollah published a nine-minute video of what it described as surveillance footage of locations in Israel, which included Haifa's airport and sea ports.

 Hezbollah publishes drone footage of Ramat David Airbase, July 24, 2024. (photo credit: SCREENSHOT/VIA TELEGRAM@baznews9/VIA SECTION 24A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)
Hezbollah publishes drone footage of Ramat David Airbase, July 24, 2024.
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/VIA TELEGRAM@baznews9/VIA SECTION 24A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)

Reacting to Hezbollah publishing drone footage on Wednesday morning claiming to show the IDF Ramat David base, the IDF later stated that the video was filmed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) solely for photography purposes and that the base's operations were not impacted.

The IDF and the Air Force within it are operating against Hezbollah's aerial array and have attacked hundreds of targets from this array in recent months, the IDF continued in its statement.

It added that the Israel Air Force is using all means available to protect the skies of the state of Israel and will continue to do so.

The Ramat David base is about 46 km (28.6 mi) from Israel's border with Lebanon. The video displays the base and its fallacies and presents information about the various systems within the base. 

Hezbollah officials said to Lebanese media that the air base that the Ramat David Base is one of the most important air force bases in Israel and the only one in the North, Maariv reported. They added that they would distribute detailed information about the importance of the base, and that Hezbollah continues to collect new information all the time. 

 Israeli air force technicians working on a F-16 Fighting Falcon in Ramat David Airbase, northern Israel, January 14, 2024.  (credit: David Cohen/Flash90)
Israeli air force technicians working on a F-16 Fighting Falcon in Ramat David Airbase, northern Israel, January 14, 2024. (credit: David Cohen/Flash90)

This is not Hezbollah's first time publishing drone footage of Israel

Earlier in July, Hezbollah published additional drone footage showing the Golan Heights and the northern coast of Israel, respectively.

In June, Hezbollah published a nine-minute video of what it described as surveillance footage of locations in Israel, which included Haifa's airport and sea ports.

In this instance, Hezbollah's media relations officer Muhammad Afif stated that "publishing this video sends a clear message to the enemy and its army."