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Hezbollah carried out multiple first-person view (FPV) drone strikes on Monday targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
The strikes targeted an Israeli tank in Al-Qantara and a bulldozer engaged in house demolitions in Bint Jbeil, as well as troop gatherings in Naqoura and an evacuation team in Taybeh. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in the attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Lebanon with "fire that will burn the entire country," as Israeli media outlet Haaretz noted that Hezbollah's fiber-optic guided FPV drones had become the primary challenge to Israel's defense lines in the south.
Hezbollah issued multiple statements on Monday confirming the attacks. In Al-Qantara, fighters struck an Israeli tank with a drone, claiming a direct hit.
In Bint Jbeil, a drone struck an Israeli bulldozer while it was demolishing civilian homes.
In Naqoura, two drones targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers, with Hezbollah reporting confirmed casualties.
Most significantly, Hezbollah published footage on Telegram showing a drone strike directly hitting an Israeli gathering and evacuation force in the town of Taybeh, including what it said was footage from Israeli soldiers' cameras showing the moment a helicopter was targeted while landing to evacuate wounded.
BBC Verify also geolocated the footage using satellite imagery and confirmed the videos were new.
The Israeli army confirmed that a soldier was severely wounded and another was lightly hurt in an explosive drone strike during operations in southern Lebanon, with both evacuated to the hospital.
The Israeli army described the attack as "a violation of the ceasefire understandings by the Hezbollah terror group."
Katz issued an explicit threat during a meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
"Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem is playing with fire, and the fire will burn Hezbollah and all of Lebanon. Fire will break out and engulf the cedars of Lebanon," Katz said.
He accused the Lebanese government of "continuing to take cover under the Hezbollah wing" and said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was "gambling with the future of Lebanon."
Katz said he and Netanyahu had instructed the army "to respond with overwhelming fire against Hezbollah in the event of any damage, threat or violation of Israeli sovereignty."
Aoun said Monday that the ceasefire with Israel was "a first and necessary step" for subsequent negotiations and that this position had been conveyed to U.S. mediators.
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Haaretz reported that Hezbollah's drone use had increased sharply in recent weeks, with fiber-optic guided models, resistant to electronic jamming, emerging as the primary weapon on the Lebanon front.
The newspaper cited Israeli security sources saying at least 38 soldiers had been wounded since March in drone attacks.
The paper said the fiber-optic drones' use of cable rather than wireless communication made them nearly impossible to jam, presenting a new category of challenge for the Israeli army.
Hezbollah was described as having developed the tactic, drawing on Hamas's Oct. 7 experience and Russia-Ukraine FPV drone tactics. The drones were said to be cheap, locally producible from commercial parts or 3D-printed components with rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) rounds or grenades as warheads.
Israeli airstrikes also targeted the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in Nabatieh district early Tuesday, while Israeli drones circled over Beirut in violation of the ceasefire, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Lebanon's death toll since March 2 stands at more than 2,500 killed, 7,750 injured and 1.6 million displaced.
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