In an effort to protect its soldiers from Hezbollah’s drone attacks, the IDF has penetrated deeper into Lebanon, beyond the April 17 ceasefire’s so-called Yellow Line.

It remains unclear if the IDF is taking this action to reduce the threat or to reassure the Israeli public that it’s taking the Hezbollah threat seriously after the death toll of IDF soldiers had increased as a result of Hezbollah’s FPV drones, guided by fiber-optic cables, evading IDF defenses.

While the IDF did not specify how deeply and where it would penetrate, officials cited positions beyond the Yellow Line they believe will be helpful in countering the drone threat. However, if Hezbollah retreats further north, it may still be able to strike IDF soldiers with its drones.

The new operations come as the United States and Iran are negotiating a ceasefire deal that Iran has insisted must include a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, raising concerns that this will impede the Lebanese government’s ability to dismantle Hezbollah and restore its sovereignty over Lebanon while hampering Israel’s ability to defend itself from threats.

To that end, analysts believe Israel is ramping up operations in order to inflict as much damage on Hezbollah as possible before it’s too late.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Monday that Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah will intensify.

“We are at war with Hezbollah,” he said. “But we are not taking our foot off the gas. On the contrary, I said to step on the gas even more.”

The prime minister vowed to neutralize the FPV drone danger from Hezbollah that has been increasingly claiming the lives of IDF soldiers, saying a special team has been assembled to address this threat directly.

“We will strike them … and we will solve this as well,” he said.