Hezbollah's attack toward Ramat David Airbase indicates they're targeting it

F-16 Fighting Falcon/Ramat David Airbase

Hezbollah appears to have its sights on the IDF's airbase Ramat David in northern Israel having fired rockets at the base in previous assaults. The large rocket barrage on Sunday morning from Lebanon had the base as its primary target.

The terror organization has for months been threatening to strike the base and shared aerial footage from a drone that infiltrated the area. This is not a new phenomena, this has been going on for dozens of years whereby the runways and aircraft hangers at the IAF base were in the crosshairs for jihadis beyond Israel's borders.

The base was built in 1941 by the British Air Force and replaced a rehabilitation institution for juvenile delinquents that began operations in 1938. That facility replaced an agricultural station founded in 1925.

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was the first pilot to land in the cornfield at the heart of the valley, a military cornfield. You may know Dahl as a British author who wrote, among other works, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "Matilda," but he was also a World War 2 fighter pilot and also worked in intelligence.

On June 10, 1941, the British airfield, which was then operational in Haifa, was attacked, forcing British army officials to search for an alternative landing site. Dahl identified a suitable location and later wrote about the landing in his book Going Solo, which was supposed to be a secret place at the time.

The Ramat David base was attacked by Arab armies for the first time shortly after Israel declared independence, and on May 22, 1948. Egyptian Spitfire pilots attacked the airbase, killing four British soldiers. The Egyptian pilots said their pilots were confused and mistakenly believed the struck the Megiddo airfield, which was a load of camel crap.

What they actually believed was that the Ramat David airfield had fallen into the hands of the Jews and were surprised to discover the Brits had not yet evacuated it.

In the Yom Kippur War [aka October War, or the 1973 Arab-Israeli War] which took place on October 6 to October 25, 1973, the Syrians hit the base, killed a pilot and wounded several other soldiers.

From the first day of the war, pilots from Ramat David Airbase operated around the clock. On the second day of the way, a Saturday night, the base was attacked, and multiple explosions occurred near the base. After a while, it became clear that Soviet-made FROG missiles fired from Syria exploded near the base.

On the fourth day of the fighting, two missiles struck the base. One hit the residential area of the base and killed a 26-year-old pilot with a two-month-old infant. The second missile exploded near the soldier's quarters, wounding several soldiers and two pilots.

So Ramat David Airbase has an interesting, yet bloody history and the IDF will defend it to the bitter end.

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