Hezbollah’s drone capabilities are limiting 80 percent of Israeli assaults on southern Lebanon, according to a report by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan.
On Monday, Kan reported that the Israeli military had estimated that drones fired by Hezbollah had severely restricted Israeli troop movements in Lebanon, and contributed to battlefield losses.
The report stated that anti-drone systems were being distributed to only a limited number of Israeli troops due to supply shortages, and that some military operations were not being carried out in daylight hours over fears of drone attacks.
These drones have increasingly become a problem for Israel’s government, which has reportedly created a specialist task force, composed of military, defence and civilian experts, to develop systems to counter the threat.
Israeli military intelligence sources told Kan that Hezbollah had moved away from a command and control structure, and was now operating guerrilla-style warfare.
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The sources said that the Lebanese group’s fighters were operating with greater independence since the assassination of a number of senior commanders in the elite Radwan Force.
Now it is operating with smaller cells and carrying out opportunistic attacks on Israeli forces, moving from village to village in southern Lebanon.
Last month, Ynet news reported that Hezbollah had significantly upgraded its drone capabilities, particularly through the use of fibre optic first-person view drones to attack Israeli forces.
It said that these drones were relatively cheap compared to longer-range missiles, and were being assembled and modified in southern Lebanon.
The modifications include adding components such as landing skids, cameras and explosive payloads.
One of the upgrades is a fibre optic tether linking the drone directly to its operating control station.
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That means it can reach distant targets without the need of radio signals – preventing Israeli systems from detecting and jamming the drones.
Last week, Israel approved $700m in emergency funding to develop defences against Hezbollah drones.
The plan included the deployment of fixed radar systems along Israel’s northern border, as well as the purchase of five million specialised shotgun rounds designed for intercepting short range drones.
Since 2 March, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 3,000 people and wounded 9,301 more.
At least 1.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict – around a fifth of Lebanon’s population.
Despite a ceasefire having been announced on 16 April, which was extended last week, Israeli forces have continued to carry out near-daily strikes on Lebanon.
