Hezbollah’s FPV Drone Strikes Signal Tactical Shift Against Israel

Hezbollah has stepped up its deployment of small first-person view (FPV) drones against Israel, including systems guided by fiber-optic cables to bypass advanced defenses.

BBC Verify geolocated 35 videos released by the Lebanese group since March 26, showing strikes on Israeli soldiers, armored vehicles and air defense systems in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Experts told BBC Verify that the Israel Defense Forces have “so far been unable to develop any effective countermeasures” because the drones easily evade detection systems.

The drones, often built from commercial and 3D-printed parts, are cheap compared to the high-value targets they can destroy, experts said.

The widespread use of low-cost FPV drones, a hallmark of the Russia-Ukraine war, is reshaping modern warfare.

Israeli media reports indicate four IDF soldiers and one civilian have been killed in FPV strikes, with dozens wounded, though the military has not released full casualty details.

The IDF told BBC Verify it recognizes the drone threat and is investing “significant resources” in improving defenses, developing “more effective alert models” and training soldiers for “improving readiness and increasing awareness of the threat.”

According to the Institute for National Security Studies, the IDF has used FPV drones for years and currently operates them in southern Lebanon and against Hamas in Gaza.

Hisham Jaber, a military analyst and former Lebanese army general, told BBC Arabic that FPV drones can be “undetectable by radar” and that Hezbollah has used “hundreds” of them to disable armored vehicles, including tanks.

Hezbollah has long employed larger attack drones against northern Israel, but the use of FPVs marks “an entirely different category,” Jaber said.

BBC Verify found nearly 100 apparent FPV attack videos on Hezbollah’s Telegram channel since March 26, 35 of which were verified; the group did not share similar footage from the conflict that began March 2.

A verified video from Thursday shows at least four FPV drones striking an Israeli border outpost near Kiryat Shmona, targeting military vehicles in sequence, with at least two heavily damaged or destroyed.

BBC Verify also tracked drone strikes in Taybeh, southern Lebanon, on April 26, where videos show soldiers targeted followed by a strike near an IDF helicopter evacuating wounded; Israeli media reported one soldier killed and six wounded.

Many drones use fiber-optic cables instead of radio or wireless signals, making them hard to intercept with current Israeli electronic countermeasures.

Dr. Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King’s College London, told BBC Verify that fiber-optics make Israel’s ability to detect, jam and intercept drones “largely irrelevant” and greatly complicate locating the operator.

This forces Israeli troops to “move more cautiously, harden positions, use physical protective measures such as nets and cages, and devote more attention to immediate local defense,” Krieg said.

Hezbollah likely assembles the drones locally from commercial components sourced from China, each costing $300-$500 (£225-£375), Krieg added.

Leone Hadavi, a senior investigator and weapons expert at the Centre for Information Resilience, said the commercial parts are supplemented with 3D-printed components.

“Tracing components has proven very hard because of how easily accessible they are and non-military in nature. Mostly these FPV drones carry a RPG warhead, of which there is no shortage in southern Lebanon,” Hadavi said.

Hadavi told BBC Verify that the “psychological implication” of rising FPV strikes appears significant for Israeli troops, given the drones’ ability to threaten heavily protected armored vehicles.

The latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah began March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes in Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After Khamenei’s death, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel; Israel responded with widespread airstrikes on Lebanon and a ground invasion of the south.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 2,896 people have been killed, including more than 400 since U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in April; the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

More than one million people have been displaced in Lebanon since the conflict began.

Israel reports four soldiers and 18 civilians killed in the fighting.

Additional reporting by Lamees Altalebi, Thomas Spencer, Deena Easa, Sherie Ryder and Paul Brown; graphics by Tom Shiel.