Did the Israeli army really use a medieval catapult to launch fiery projectiles into Lebanon?

Does the Israeli army use weapons from the Middle Ages? According to a CNN article, IDF soldiers may have used a trebuchet to carry burning shells across the Lebanese border as attacks by Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah intensify in the area.

In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, the catapult is seen in action surrounded by soldiers as a burning shell flies over a wall. TF1 defines this fortification as “a very impressive wall built in the area by the Jewish state in 2018.” CNN indicates that it was unable to verify the date of the images, but was able to geolocate them to the Israeli-Lebanese border.

“Local Initiative”

A trebuchet is a canted and counterbalanced military weapon from medieval artillery. Particularly used in sieges, it allows you to launch projectiles and destroy fortifications. It was the most powerful weapon of the 12th and 15th centuries before being replaced by gunpowder cannons.

When asked about the matter, Israel Defense Forces officials said the use of the catapult was a “local initiative” and that it was not “widely used,” according to the CNN-affiliated public channel Kan. However, according to these media reports, this trebuchet is likely used to burn vegetation, which would allow the army to clear the area and thus more easily identify Hezbollah members who try to reach the border.

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Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has regularly exchanged fire with the Israeli army from Lebanon in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement, its ally. The violence has already killed at least 471 people in Lebanon, most of them militants but including 91 civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Hezbollah and official Lebanese sources. On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed, authorities said.

The attacks have intensified since the death of one of its most important commanders, Taleb Sami Abdallah, who was killed last Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a house in Juaya in southern Lebanon, bordering northern Israel. In response, Hezbollah struck the north of the Jewish state, causing a series of fires that led to evacuations and destruction.