A video relayed on social networks shows soldiers wielding a siege weapon with flaming projectiles, sent over a wall.
These soldiers would be part of the Israeli army and would seek to start fires in a border area with Lebanon.
If the images seem surreal, they are very authentic: the IDF confirms the use of a trebuchet, a piece of medieval artillery used between the 12th and 16th centuries.
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The Israeli army, equipped with state-of-the-art defense systems and military equipment, currently uses siege weapons whose origins date back to the Middle Ages. In any case, this is what a video relayed on the social network X suggests, on which we can see soldiers using a trebuchet to send flaming projectiles.
It is, we are told, a weapon deployed on the border between Israel and Lebanon with the aim of starting fires on the other side of a wall separating the two countries.
Expose an area covered by dense vegetation
At first glance, it seems difficult to envisage that the IDF would use a trebuchet, a weapon from the Middle Ages whose use was mainly concentrated between the 12th and 16th centuries. Designed to destroy enemy fortifications or hit opponents by passing over fortifications, it appears modernized here, with the addition of wheels and axles which allow it to be transported like a trailer.
Disconcerting in appearance, this scene is nevertheless entirely authentic. The soldiers visible in the images – one of whom is holding a fire extinguisher in case of an incident – are part of the Israeli army, more precisely from a unit deployed on the border with Lebanon. We also recognize the very imposing wall erected in the area by the Hebrew State in 2018, in order to protect against potential attacks by Lebanese Hezbollah.
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Asked by Israeli media, IDF spokespersons indicate that the use of such a weapon is a matter of “local initiative”emphasizing that it is not a “widely used tool”. The army adds that “the area on the Lebanese border is characterized by rocks, thickets and dense thorny vegetation, which poses a challenge for the forces deployed in defense.”
In the articles discussing these maneuvers, which began in November 2023, a hypothesis is put forward: the soldiers would thus seek to “expose the area in order to facilitate the identification of terrorists who attempt to reach the border or prepare an attack”.
A decision taken after the failure of other techniques
Setting fire to the surrounding vegetation would also allow“expose Hezbollah’s positions”. An expert in medieval weapons, cited by the financial newspaper Globesalso confirms these objectives. “In the area adjacent to the border”he slips, the plant cover can contribute to “hide people or weapons”.
Another media outlet specifies that the military began to use this weapon from another time after the failure of several techniques. “Illumination and smoke shells were launched” in order to start the fires in the border area, without much success, explains the article. “Attempts at direct ignition have also been made using a fuel injection and spray system”, without leading to better results. This is how the choice was made to use a trebuchet and flaming projectiles, sent onto Lebanese soil over the concrete wall.
Do you want to ask us questions or submit information that you think is unreliable? Do not hesitate to write to us at [email protected]. Find us also on X: our team is present there behind the account @verif_TF1LCI.
