Hezbollah is trying to prevent an Israeli ground maneuver deep inside Lebanese territory by hitting IDF soldiers with drones, according to a senior officer in the Air Force.
"The forces understand that the only way for us to succeed is to hunt the drone operators and kill them," the senior officer said, adding that the big advantage the IDF has in southern Lebanon today is that much of the area has been cleared of civilians.
"If I need to compare the situation to Gaza, where there is a very large level of complexity with collateral damage and harm to noninvolved people, that almost does not exist today in southern Lebanon. The men are evacuated. The moment you issue evacuation notices, people leave, we saw that in the Dahiyeh district as well," he said.
The officer added that once the evacuation is complete, intelligence gathering can proceed quickly and troops can close in rapidly.
The IDF insists that despite the prevailing feeling among the Israeli public, Hezbollah's morale is actually very low. Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon are not rushing to fight and usually have to fall back as the IDF advances on the ground.
Hezbollah tries for aggression, but is moving backward
The officer also said Hezbollah terrorists are trying to be aggressive and kill IDF soldiers, but are frustrated and moving backward. "We can see with our own eyes that the enemy is moving backward; that is why it is also using drones from ranges of 6-8 km," the senior officer emphasized. According to him, the IDF "almost never encounters terrorists face to face."
"They leave before you arrive, because they understand that the military power is such that they cannot deal with it, and that is what is creating a crisis of trust inside Hezbollah," he said. The big advantage the IDF has in southern Lebanon is that the area has been evacuated of civilians, unlike the Gaza Strip.
The senior officer explained that the number of terrorists killed is very high, ranging from 30 to 70 a day. "This is a major success thanks to the pace we close in on them," he said.
He described a common incident in which a field commander in Hezbollah sees IDF forces on the Litani. According to him, the commander understands that something is happening, but before he manages to abandon his positions, IDF forces succeed in killing him.
Strikes are carried out across entire value chain
Regarding the fight against Hezbollah's drones, the officer said that "each area is divided into a command space, a division space, and the General Staff space." According to him, the Air Force is operating in the northernmost sector. "I look for all the signs of drone use, everything. We are focusing our efforts. We have special teams that manage the information on the subject, special drone teams, and joint work with the brigades on the ground."
The officer stressed that strikes are being carried out across the entire drone value chain. Speaking about his own branch, he said the Air Force's advantage is that it operates across the whole area.
"We have very nice successes. We are really pouncing on the drone issue. We are also busy identifying the drones and issuing warnings to the forces. That means placing enough sensors to detect this thing, which sometimes is the size of a bird. Give a warning in time so the fighters know to protect themselves," he concluded.