On July 26, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) deployed M109 Doher heavy howitzers near the separation line with Lebanon.
The step was taken against fear in Israel from a close attack by Hezbollah, which lost one of its fighters in the recent Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital, Damascus. Usually, the group responds to such incidents by attacking Israeli troops from Southern Lebanon.
גבול הצפון: צה”ל פורס תותחים על רקע המתיחות הבטחונית וההיערכות לפיגוע חיזבאללה.
צילום: אביהו שפירא pic.twitter.com/Zluu014MiO— יואב זיתון (@yoavzitun) July 26, 2020
The M109 Doher 155 mm howitzer has an effective firing range of up to 30 km, more than enough to target many of Hezbollah’s strongholds in Southern Lebanon.
The deployment of heavy howitzers is the most recent in a series of measures taken by the IDF. In the last few days, several Iron Dome anti-rocket systems were deployed in northern Israel. The army also reinforced its troops in the region with an elite infantry unit.
Over the last day, IDF have deployed several Iron Dome batteries in Northern Israel pic.twitter.com/TKqWMCsNdr
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 26, 2020
Furthermore, Israeli drones started flying at a risky low-altitude over Hezbollah’s strongholds in an attempt to lure the group into shooting down a drone instead of carrying out a more serious attack.
In a recent message delivered by the UN, Israel informed Hezbollah that it had not seek to kill its fighter during the last airstrikes on Syria. Nevertheless, the group is reportedly determined to strike back.
