IDF using an ancient weapon on the Lebanon border

As reported by Kann, footage published today (Thursday) on social media shows IDF soldiers on the northern border using an ancient weapon called the ballista to ignite fires beyond the barrier on the Lebanon border.

Wikipedia describes the ballista as an ancient missile weapon that launched either bolts or stones at a distant target. The ballista pre-dates the cannon and dates as far back as before the Common Era.

The terrain on the Lebanon border is a tricky place for the IDF to defend, with its boulders, thickets, and dense thorny vegetation. It is possible that burning thorns and vegetation beyond the border aims to expose the area for easier identification of terrorists attempting to reach the border and to prepare the ground for a potential land maneuver in Lebanon - including exposing explosives and Hezbollah positions. However the IDF has not confirmed this, stating that their use of the ballista is a "local initiative and not a tool that has been widely adopted."

Lebanon already claimed that in the days leading up to the war, the IDF was burning thickets and thorns and was using drones to lay the pipes beyond the border. Several such incidents were documented, and UNIFIL forces were called to the scene.