Israel ups efforts to tackle Hezbollah’s fiber-optic

BEIRUT

The Israeli army has ramped up efforts to find effective countermeasures against Hezbollah’s increasingly advanced drones operating in southern Lebanon, which continue to pose a growing operational challenge for Israeli forces, media reported on May 13.

According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, citing an unnamed military official, the Israeli army has recently deployed “smart targeting systems” in southern Lebanon in an effort to better detect and intercept these drones.

The report also said that hundreds of “Dagger” night-vision scopes have been issued to soldiers to enhance their ability to engage moving targets during nighttime operations.

Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones are described as one of the Israeli military’s most difficult challenges in the area, as they are hard to detect and intercept, the broadcaster added.

These drones reportedly continue to target Israeli troops and military vehicles amid ongoing Israeli incursions and violations in southern Lebanon, while Israel has yet to develop a reliable solution to counter them.

In late April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Hezbollah’s missiles and drones constitute “two major threats” and called on military leaders to develop effective countermeasures.

Despite a ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and later extended to mid-May, the Israeli military reportedly continues daily strikes in Lebanon along with exchanges of fire with Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes targeting cars on a highway south of Beirut on May 13 killed eight people, including two children.