ISRAEL has been filmed using a medieval siege weapon to launch fireballs at Lebanon.
The strange footage showed troops using a catapult-like weapon to fling incendiaries across the border in an apparent attempt to prevent Hezbollah fighters from infiltrating the perimeter.
X/visegrad24The moment the trebuchet launches a fireball across Israel’s border with Lebanon[/caption]
X/visegrad24The flaming object soars above the thick border wall[/caption]
X/visegrad24The troops were reportedly attempting to burn down vegetation on the Lebanese side[/caption]
A second clip appeared to show an IDF troop firing a burning arrow over the borderX/visegrad24
The clip shows Israeli troops standing near a trebuchet as it powerfully lobs a large flaming object over the thick border wall to land on Lebanese territory.
Such a weapon hasn’t been deployed in battle since around the mid-15th century when it was used for sieging castles and other fortifications.
It fell out of use following the invention of gunpowder.
Responding to the footage, Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said: “This is a local initiative and not a tool that is widely used.”
A second clip also showed what appeared to be a troop shooting a burning arrow over the border in a slower and even more primitive method of starting fires.
The IDF said the Lebanon border ares is covered with dense vegetation, boulders and thickets which poses challenges to its troops.
Reports suggest that the border soldiers were not permitted to use artillery to burn down the vegetation.
In response, it appears they took matters into their own hands and used the Middle Ages-style catapult to lob flaming objects over the border instead.
Destroying any tree cover would make it harder for the enemy to covertly attempt to break through the border.
Since Hamas’s bloody October 7 attack, Israel’s military has been engaged in near-daily cross-border fire with Hezbollah on its northern front.
The Israel-backed terror group say they are fighting in support of Palestinian’s amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
However, the irregular rocket and drone attacks sparked mass evacuations eight months ago that have emptied Israel’s north.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF is “prepared for an extremely powerful action in the north”.
His comments suggested Israel was considering extending its offensive in Gaza to its northern border with Lebanon.
Fire covers an area in northern Israel following rocket attacks from Lebanon last week
Infernos raging last week in Israel following a Hezbollah rocket and drone strike
This week, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah dramatically escalated after the killing of the Lebanese militia’s most senior military commander, Sami Taleb Abdullah, in an Israeli air strike.
A Lebanese military source said he was the “most important” Hezbollah commander to have been killed since the start of the war.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah vowed to intensify its attacks in revenge which followed with a a barrage of some 250 rockets into northern Israel – the largest single-day attack since the current conflict began.
In recent weeks, the border skirmishes have escalated, with Hezbollah stepping up its use of drones to attack Israeli army positions and Israel hitting back with targeted strikes against the militants.
The cross-border violence has killed at least 468 people in Lebanon, including 89 civilians.
Israeli authorities say at least 15 Israeli soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed.
Addressing the situation along the border, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that his country, the US and Israel would work together to ease tensions in the area.
Speaking at a G7 summit in Italy, Macron said the three countries would “move forward on the road map that we have proposed. We will do the same with the Lebanese authorities.”
The French proposal involves halting attacks on both sides and militants withdrawing 10km from the border.
It comes as Israel has blasted a “repugnant” United Nations report claiming it killed more than a dozen of its own people during the October 7 attacks.
The UN claims Israeli armed forces activated the “Hannibal Directive” which backs killing its own soldiers to prevent them becoming hostages.
It allegedly recorded “strong indications” that multiple times on October 7, the Hannibal Directive was applied, “harming Israelis at the same time as striking Palestinian militants.”
A 68-year-old grandmother and 12-year-old twins were among the 14 Israeli civilians who, according to UN investigators, “were likely killed as a result of Israeli security forces fire.”
ReutersIsraeli soldiers use a hose to extinguish flames on a road close to the border with Lebanon[/caption]
EPAPM Benjamin Netanyahu signalled last week Israel could be preparing to open a new front with Hezbollah[/caption]
Hezbollah are thought to be the world’s biggest and most powerful non-state military force