As YWN reported on Monday, Hezbollah’s explosive drones pose an increasingly dangerous threat to IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon. The low-cost tool has become a deadly weapon that has caused a considerable number of IDF casualties. On Tuesday morning, the IDF announced that another IDF soldier was seriously injured on Monday by an explosive drone in southern Lebanon.
Army Radio reported on Tuesday morning that the issue arose on Monday during a meeting of the IDF’s senior command, with IDF commanders of combat units in Lebanon expressing great frustration with the threat and the few tools the IDF has to deal with it. One of the commanders complained that the only measure he can take is telling his soldiers, “Be alert, and if you identify a drone, shoot at it.”
Some of the units have begun to try to develop makeshift solutions to the threat, including spreading fishing nets over positions, barracks, and windows.
An IDF officer said, “This is an improvised solution. We started to deploy it to some of the forces, but it is far from enough.”
There has been much criticism directed at the IDF for failing to develop a solution for explosive drones, which have been extensively used in the Russian-Ukrainian war, especially in the wake of Ukraine’s successful development of countermeasures.
In addition, the drone threat was illustrated during the October 7 massacre when Hamas neutralized the sensors on the Gaza border with explosive drones.
According to the Army Radio report, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reprimanded Air Force Commander Tomer Bar for failing to adequately deal with the threat.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
