ALWAGHT- Hezbollah persists in engaging Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in southern Lebanon, using drones to strike assemblies of soldiers and vehicles.
Hezbollah’s drone operations have inflicted significant damage on the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in southern Lebanon, targeting armored vehicles, troop gatherings, and artillery emplacements. In multiple recent operations, the resistance used loitering drones to directly hit an IOF Namer armored personnel carrier in Debel and a swarm of drones to strike military concentrations near Naqoura, Rishaf, Hadata, and Tayr Harfa. Artillery positions in Rishaf, Aita al-Shaab, and Bint Jbeil were also successfully targeted.
The drone threat has become the IOF’s primary challenge, with Hebrew media reporting that fiber-optic drones are very difficult to detect or intercept. Senior IOF officers admit that prolonged presence in southern Lebanon exposes forces to these weapons, which have caused numerous casualties. Notably, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, Colonel Meir Biderman, was seriously wounded after a drone struck a building where he was resting, requiring surgery to remove shrapnel from his head. In total, at least ten soldiers have been injured in separate drone incidents, and officers acknowledge that operational indiscipline and failure to follow protection protocols have worsened the toll.
Beyond casualties, Hezbollah’s tactics have undermined IOF operational control. A Golani Brigade platoon commander was killed by a loitering drone during a daylight inspection tour near the Litani River, despite known risks. Israeli reservists and generals concede that the army lacks real control over the area, cannot force Hezbollah’s disarmament, and faces an acute manpower crisis. Meanwhile, Hezbollah releases near-daily drone footage of attacks, and recent attempted infiltrations near border settlements have further exposed IOF vulnerabilities, leading residents to question how armed fighters can reach the fence while the army is supposedly active inside southern Lebanon.
