Hezbollah FPV drones kill four Israeli soldiers and one civilian

BBC Verify has geolocated 35 videos posted by Hezbollah since 26 March that show first-person-view drone strikes on Israeli soldiers, armoured vehicles and air-defence systems in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Experts told BBC Verify that the Israel Defense Forces have so far been unable to develop effective countermeasures against the small drones, which can bypass detection systems. The drones can be built from commercially available parts and 3D-printed components and cost far less than the targets they can destroy.

Israeli media report that four IDF soldiers and one civilian have been killed in FPV strikes, with dozens more injured. The IDF said it recognises the threat and is investing significant resources in better defences, improved alert models and training to raise awareness.

The Institute for National Security Studies said the IDF has used FPV drones for several years and is operating them in southern Lebanon and against Hamas in Gaza.

Military analyst Hisham Jaber, a former Lebanese army general, told BBC Arabic that the FPV drones are undetectable by radar and that Hezbollah has used hundreds of them to disable armoured vehicles, including tanks. He said Hezbollah has long used larger attack drones against northern Israel, but the FPV strikes represent an entirely different category.

BBC Verify found videos of nearly 100 apparent FPV attacks on Hezbollah’s Telegram channel since 26 March, 35 of which it verified. One video shared on Thursday shows at least four FPV drones attacking an Israeli border outpost near Kiryat Shmona, damaging or destroying several military vehicles.

BBC Verify also tracked strikes in south Lebanon, including two on 26 April in the town of Taybeh. The videos show soldiers being targeted and a strike near an IDF helicopter that was rescuing injured troops. Israeli media reported one soldier killed and six others injured.

Many of the drones are flown using fibre-optic cable connections rather than radio signals, making them difficult to intercept with current Israeli electronic countermeasures. Analyst Michael Krieg said Israeli troops now move more cautiously, harden positions with nets and cages, and devote more attention to local defence.

Krieg added that Hezbollah is most likely assembling the drones locally from commercial parts sourced from China at a cost of $300 to $500 each. Leone Hadavi, a senior investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience, said the drones are also fitted with 3D-printed components and often carry rocket-propelled-grenade warheads.

Hadavi said the psychological effect on Israeli troops appears significant because the drones can threaten heavily protected armoured vehicles.

The latest round of fighting began on 2 March, two days after the United States and Israel launched air strikes in Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah then fired rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli air strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south.

Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 2,896 people have been killed since the escalation began, including more than 400 since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in April. The ministry’s figures do not separate combatant and civilian deaths.