{"id":440165,"date":"2026-05-13T20:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/440165\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:07:09","slug":"idf-downplays-hezbollah-drone-campaign-the-threat-is-manageable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/440165\/","title":{"rendered":"IDF downplays Hezbollah drone campaign: \u2018The threat is manageable\u2019:"},"content":{"rendered":"

AL-KHIAM, Lebanon \u2013 Even though three soldiers and one civilian have been killed by exploding drones<\/a> launched from Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect there on April 17, the IDF does not view the threat as a strategic challenge with far-reaching ramifications, but rather as a tactical problem for which solutions are steadily being developed.<\/p>\n

That, at least, was the common theme running through remarks made by three different officers from Givati\u2019s Sabar Battalion to journalists visiting their position Wednesday in the destroyed southern Lebanon town of al-Khiam, some six kilometers from Metula and the northern border.<\/p>\n

The journalists were shown a tunnel dug 25 meters beneath a clothing store in the center of the town that was uncovered during fighting there in early March. Inside, troops found a command and communication center, along with a cache of weapons.<\/p>\n

The deputy commander of the Sabar Battalion, identified only by the first initial of his name, \u201cL,\u201d said he believes the drone threat is being \u201cexaggerated beyond proportion, mainly by those back at home trying to understand what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

L stressed that the threat is real, and that after the October 7 massacre<\/a>, no threat can be dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is not a threat that impacts us,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does not slow down our operations. It is a tactical threat, not a strategic one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA drone is seen during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on October 4, 2023. (credit: IRANIAN ARMY\/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)\/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)<\/p>\n

That message was echoed almost verbatim by two company commanders at the site as well, indicating that the IDF is trying to send a reassuring message to a concerned home front.<\/p>\n

L said he hears that concern even from his own family: that the drone<\/a> threat, while real, is not as dangerous as many perceive it to be. This is despite the fact that in addition to the four people killed by the drones, the weapon has wounded another 50 over the past month.<\/p>\n

The comments came even as the journalists on the tour were huddled inside the ruins of one of the destroyed buildings in the former town because of a drone sighting in the area. That particular drone was eventually shot out of the air by a soldier using his personal rifle.<\/p>\n

IDF has made ‘adjustments’ to deal with drones<\/p>\n

L said the IDF has made adjustments to deal with the drones. He declined to elaborate. Nevertheless, it is known that the military has deployed nets to protect soldiers and positioned observers to continuously scan the skies, which is how Wednesday\u2019s drone, the one that sent the journalists scrambling for cover, was detected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drones do not affect our operational work,\u201d L said. \u201cWe have made adjustments. We operate somewhat differently now, with adaptations that I won\u2019t elaborate on. But at this point, the threat is manageable.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the company commanders, Capt. \u201cM,\u201d said despite the drone threat, the IDF is operating in the area with \u201ccomplete freedom of action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir impact is very, very small compared to how it is portrayed because we protect ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have capabilities, which I won\u2019t reveal here, that we use against drones.\u201d<\/p>\n

M said Hezbollah<\/a>\u2019s growing reliance on drones reflects not strength but weakness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows how desperate and afraid they are, and how much they don\u2019t want to engage the IDF in direct combat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AL-KHIAM, Lebanon \u2013 Even though three soldiers and one civilian have been killed by exploding drones launched from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16606,21754,42,86,1031,88,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-440165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-drone","tag-drone-attack","tag-headlines","tag-hezbollah","tag-idf","tag-lebanon","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}