Israel has attacked sites in Lebanon’s capital Beirut that it claims are Hezbollah factories producing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The IDF today claimed the proscribed terror group has established five sites in the Dahieh neighbourhood of Beirut that is producing ‘thousands of UAVs, with the direction and funding of Iranian terrorists.’ The military claims the underground facilities belong to Hezbollah’s Unit 127.

It said in a statement: ‘Following Hezbollah’s extensive use of UAV’s as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the state of Israel, the terrorist organization is operating to increase production of UAV’s for the next war.’ In November 2023, Hezbollah, which maintains control over much of Lebanon, signed a ceasefire agreement with Israel following 13 months of conflict that began after the paramilitary group attacked the nation on October 8, a day after Hamas ‘ deadly attack.

Israel claimed that the purported UAV factories on the Beirut sites ‘constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.’ It added: ‘The IDF will operate against every threat posed to the state of Israel and its civilians, and will prevent all attempts of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation to reestablish itself.’ Smoke was tonight seen rising from the sites highlighted by the IDF, as civilians desperately tried to leave the area following a warning from the military.

The IDF has so far not provided proof of the existence of the factories, only sharing their locations and a computer-generated image of two men apparently making drones in a basement. But the warning of an imminent attack was real, with IDF spokespeople warning civilians in the area to leave immediately. Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee said: ‘You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah. For your safety and the safety of your families, you must evacuate these buildings immediately and stay at least 300 meters away.’

Footage shared online from the Dahieh neighbourhood showed scores of people in cars desperately trying to leave the area, sounding their horns in panic. According to Israeli media, Unit 127 works with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to produce and use drones for intelligence gathering and military attacks. It was reportedly responsible for a drone strike on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea last October.

Netanyahu and his family were not at the house at the time. Unit 127 operates a range of drones produced by Iran, including the Ziad 107 ‘kamikaze’ drone with GPS-guided capabilities. They also use Shadaa 101 and Mohajer drones. Israel’s strike on a dense civilian centre risks the killing of more innocent people, which it has already come under fire for in Gaza. Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 37 people on Thursday alone.

The Israeli military has recently stepped up its campaign in Gaza in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war. But Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejected the term ‘war’ to describe the conflict in the devastated Palestinian territory, accusing Israel instead of carrying out ‘premeditated genocide’. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that ’37 people have been martyred in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip’, reporting attacks up and down the length of the territory.

Calls have mounted for a negotiated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but indirect talks between the parties have failed to yield a breakthrough since the collapse of the last brief truce in March. ‘What is happening in Gaza is not a war. It’s a genocide being carried out by a highly prepared army against women and children,’ said Brazil’s Lula, who has previously used the legal term to describe the conflict. ‘It’s no longer possible to accept,’ he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declined to use the term himself, vowed at a joint appearance with Lula to ‘ramp up pressure in coordination with the Americans to obtain a ceasefire’. France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.