As the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon continues to loom large over U.S.-Iran peace talks, one issue in particular has emerged as a driving force behind the fight—the militant group’s use of explosive first-person-view (FPV) drones against Israeli forces.
Drawing lessons from the devastating use of FPV drones in the Russia-Ukraine war, Hezbollah has used these weapons to inflict serious damage and casualties on the Israeli military, which has been scrambling to find an effective response.
The drones are a “gold mine” for the Iran-backed militant group, said an Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue. “They have a cheap weapon [that is] not very hard to operate and [is] deadly to the other side. And the other side so far hasn’t been able to find a solution to it. Therefore they can keep using it, and our defense will be mostly reactive to it, using nets or shotguns or shelters. As long as we don’t have a solution, they will continue to use those FPV drones,” the official added.
Israel has pointed to Hezbollah’s drones as one of the key reasons that Israeli forces moved farther into Lebanon and are continuing to conduct operations and strikes in the country. “Because of drones launched against us, we had to move the yellow line,” the official said, referring to the boundary that marks the buffer zone that Israel has established in southern Lebanon. “We’ll always have to retaliate against those types of threats against us.”
