JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The threat of attack drones operated via fiber-optic cables against IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon in recent days was already well known to the Israeli military, after first appearing on the battlefield in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Maariv military reporter Doron Kadosh said on Army Radio on Wednesday that in recent years the IDF recruited an officer who had served in the Ukrainian army during the war, with the aim of implementing lessons learned there into the IDF. The officer serves in the Planning Directorate as part of a dedicated team established to find solutions to drone threats, but despite numerous warnings and reports he submitted, almost nothing was done.

As early as May 2025, about a year ago, the previous head of the Operations Directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk, issued an operational requirement to all relevant IDF bodies,the Ground Forces, Planning Directorate, Northern and Southern Commands, to prepare for the fiber-optic drone threat. The document explicitly stated the need for both defensive and offensive solutions to detect and counter such drones.

The document noted that these drones entered use in the Ukrainian army around mid-2023 and became widespread on the battlefield from early 2024. It also included recommendations on how to deal with the threat: raising troop awareness, reducing movement in open areas during daylight hours while increasing night movement, and deploying camouflage nets. Everything was known, documented, and on the table, yet no action was taken.

About five months ago, IDF representatives appeared before a closed Knesset session on drone countermeasures and admitted that fiber-optic drones represent a major operational vulnerability. Officers said that while there are better solutions for drones with electronic signatures, whose signals can be jammed, fiber-optic drones are harder to counter and thus pose a greater threat.

This week, IDF representatives again appeared before a follow-up classified Knesset discussion, where they presented current and planned measures to combat the threat:

• Upgrading soldiers’ personal weapons to improve their ability to shoot down drones (including special optics and fragmentation ammunition to increase hit probability).
• Reducing helicopter landing times inside Lebanon, so evacuation aircraft spend as little time as possible on the ground and are less vulnerable to detection and attack.
• Deploying various types of radar systems more broadly in Lebanese territory. The IDF noted that the “yellow line” is now considered the new defensive line, requiring expanded radar coverage.
• Deploying protective netting over fixed positions and defensive posts to intercept drones before impact.
• Working jointly with the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT) and defense industries to develop additional technological solutions. (Notably, a Defense Ministry representative did not attend the Knesset session and failed to provide the required update, citing a “technical issue” with entry authorization.)

According to the IDF, these measures are now beginning to be implemented on the ground, but as it appears, they may be too little, too late.

On Tuesday, a civilian contractor doing roadwork in Lebanon was killed by an explosive drone and his son was lightly injured. The contractor, Amer Hujeirat (44) was the second casualty this week from attack drones after IDF soldier Idan Fox (19) died of his injuries on Sunday. The IDF also revealed on Wednesday that two soldiers operating in southern Lebanon had been injured by an attack drone, one lightly and one seriously.