Dual drone interceptions in Masada and Metulla

This comes as Iran has pushed to increase the pressure on Israel through increasingly numerous and intense attacks originating from its Iraqi militias.

 Sediments formed in the Lisan lake during lake level between 24.000 and 14.000 years ago. Today, these deposits are found more than 200 meters above the water level of the Dead Sea. View from Masada across the Dead Sea. (photo credit: GFZ)
Sediments formed in the Lisan lake during lake level between 24.000 and 14.000 years ago. Today, these deposits are found more than 200 meters above the water level of the Dead Sea. View from Masada across the Dead Sea.
(photo credit: GFZ)

Two drones were intercepted above Masada National Park near the Dead Sea area and on the border with Lebanon near Metulla on Tuesday morning.

They were intercepted after drone intrusion sirens sounded in the surrounding areas.

While drones crossing from the northern border are common, drones rarely cross over the border with Jordan into Israel.

This comes as Iran has pushed to increase the pressure on Israel through increasingly numerous and intense attacks originating from its Iraqi militias.

 Members of an Iraqi Shi'ite armed group sit in a vehicle after an attack by a drone strike on an Iran-backed militia headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq January 4, 2024.  (credit: REUTERS/AHMED SAAD)
Members of an Iraqi Shi'ite armed group sit in a vehicle after an attack by a drone strike on an Iran-backed militia headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq January 4, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/AHMED SAAD)

Iranian attack

Israeli intelligence sources told Axios last week that there could be an Iranian attack on Israel from Iraqi territory either before or on the day of the US presidential election.

In the same report, it highlighted that the attack would likely be carried out by a combination of drones and ballistic missiles.

A high-ranking member of the Iraqi Shia terrorist militia Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN) told (Lebanese) Hezbollah-affiliated media on Saturday that his group would be willing to launch attacks on Israel in coordination with Iran.

HHN was designated a terrorist organization by the Trump administration and has been targeted by US strikes as recently as January, with a high-ranking commander, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, killed, according to a Washinton Post report.

Corinne Baum contributed to this report.