Video emerges seemingly showing Israeli soldiers using a trebuchet to lob fiery weapons at Lebanon

• Israeli soldiers used a trebuchet to throw incendiaries near the Lebanese border, a video appears to show.
• The Israeli military stated this was a local initiative, not a widespread tool, per local reporting.
• The move could be aimed at clearing dense vegetation hiding enemies amid ongoing border hostilities.

An unusual video apparently depicting Israeli soldiers launching fireballs near the Lebanese border using a trebuchet, a siege weapon used to attack castles and fortifications in ages past, began circulating on social media Thursday.

The Israeli military said in a statement on KAN News that the trebuchet was used as part of a "local initiative" and that it is "not a tool that has come into widespread use."

"The area on the Lebanese border is characterized by boulders, thickets, and dense thorn vegetation, which poses a challenge to the IDF forces deployed in defense," the statement said.

The trebuchet, a weapon used as early as the fourth century BC, is known for its use of a counterweight, unlike catapults that rely on tension, to fling heavy projectiles out to great distances, but since the invention of gunpowder, its use has become less common.

Other posts show a soldier firing a flaming arrow with a bow near the border with Lebanon. Business Insider has been unable to independently confirm the details of the footage, including when the videos were filmed.

Media outlets have speculated that the trebuchet's fiery ammunition was meant to burn down heavy foliage covering parts of Lebanon near the border as a way of exposing threats from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia group.

Since hostilities were reignited at the border of Israel and Lebanon in October 2023, the Israeli military has also used drones and white phosphorus munitions in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has been firing continuous barrages of rockets and other munitions toward northern Israel.

There are concerns that both Israel and Lebanon are at risk of experiencing wildfires due to the exchange of fire at the border and the use of incendiary weapons.