“TEL AVIV -- Hezbollah militants are increasingly adept at using explosive drones, deploying night-vision gear and first-person viewers to inflict a deadly toll on Israeli troops.
Within a matter of weeks, Hezbollah's one-way drones have turned into Israel's top concern on its northern flank, overtaking more-traditional threats such as antitank missiles, Israeli officials say. They are the leading cause of battlefield deaths, responsible for seven out of the 11 Israeli soldiers killed since a shaky cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect in April, the military said.
Recent videos posted by the Lebanese militant group on social media show first-person-view drones, a weapon that dominates Ukrainian battlefields, targeting the fuel tanks of Israeli vehicles. Drone operators use the tactic to spark explosions and inflict maximum damage. Hezbollah also has showcased the use of night vision and is flying drones into Israeli territory.
The development comes as Washington and Tehran are negotiating a peace deal that Iran insists must include an end to the fighting in Lebanon. Israeli leaders are pushing the U.S. to seek terms that would allow Israel to operate freely against Hezbollah, said people familiar with the matter.
The deadly drone attacks have led to increasing domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act more forcefully against Hezbollah. The drones have exposed an Israeli Achilles' heel and put the militant group back on the offensive after being battered by previous Israeli attacks.
Following the political pressure, Netanyahu said this week that Israel would strike even harder in Lebanon. He said the military was deepening its operations there and seizing more territory. It has since struck repeatedly in southern Lebanon and issued wide-scale evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians before further strikes.
Hezbollah has scored hits against Israel not only by improving its own tactics but by taking advantage of poor Israeli defensive practices, such as assembling troops and vehicles in unprotected clusters, drone experts say. Israel failed to learn from mistakes made early in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where drones have come to dominate the battlefield and both sides have had to adapt quickly, they said.
The Israeli military said it is taking the drone threat seriously and has put up protective netting and accelerated training for soldiers. Israel is monitoring Hezbollah's use of explosive drones closely, and has targeted drone production and launch sites in southern Lebanon, the military said.
Recently, Tania Koronos, a mother of three, spotted a drone above her hometown in northern Israel, Adamit, about a mile from the Lebanon border. She said she was so mentally exhausted by the constant air-raid sirens that she just ignored it.
"I feel angry at the government, the decision makers," she said. "Either go in strong and really dismantle them so that it takes them 20 years to get to the same place, or make a deal that really holds water."
Israel has continued to strike in southern Lebanon, hitting what it said were hundreds of Hezbollah targets this week.
The Lebanon truce is between Israel and the Beirut government, which doesn't control Hezbollah. Netanyahu has said Israel remains at war with the militant group.
Trump asked Netanyahu to start negotiations for a more permanent settlement with Lebanon, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
More than 3,000 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli attacks since early March, according to Lebanese health authorities.
"We are deepening our operation in Lebanon," Netanyahu said Tuesday. The Israeli military "is operating with large forces on the ground and seizing dominant terrain. At the same time, we are maintaining a massive national effort to advance creative and innovative solutions against explosive drones."
Lawmakers from both Netanyahu's ruling coalition and the opposition, as well as residents of Israel's north, have criticized the U.S. restrictions and called for Netanyahu to go after Hezbollah more forcefully.
"I call upon the prime minister: Pick up the phone, call Trump, go to him, and bang on the table," Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of Netanyahu's coalition, said Monday.
About 80% of Hezbollah's drones are controlled via fiber-optic cables, rendering them immune to electronic jamming, an Israeli security official has told the Journal.
Drone experts said that striking operators, their communications systems and their supply chain is key to confronting the threat. The Israeli military believes it has killed "a few" of Hezbollah's dozens of drone operators, according to the security official.
"With each flight, each mission, Hezbollah pilots gain experience, whether the mission is successful or not. That's how it works in Ukraine," said Samuel Bendett, an adviser with the Russia studies program at CNA, a Washington-based think tank.” [1]
1. World News: Hezbollah's Drones Pose Big Threat to Israel. Peled, Anat. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 29 May 2026: A6.
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