Hardline Israeli ministers seek more strikes on Beirut

Hezbollah increased explosive drone attacks on Israeli troops and northern towns, including a Sunday attack that killed an Israeli soldier. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume bombing Beirut, framing the drones as not inevitable and calling for heavy destruction in response to each drone. Israeli media reported Netanyahu rejected the demand and favored defensive measures. Smotrich and other ultranationalist figures have made statements beyond official policy, including annexation proposals for southern Lebanon and Gaza. Hezbollah has used low-cost FPV kamikaze drones controlled by fibre-optic cables to evade Israeli jamming and strike troops during a fragile ceasefire. Israel has largely avoided strikes on Beirut since a US ceasefire announcement, while continuing exchanges in southern Lebanon.

"“The explosive drones harming our fighters are not a decree of fate,” he said in a statement. “For every explosive drone, 10 buildings should fall in Beirut.”"

"Israeli media reported that Mr Smotrich made similar remarks at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. Mr Smotrich's comments came after an Israeli soldier was killed by a Hezbollah drone attack on Sunday. Israeli media reported that Mr Netanyahu rejected Mr Smotrich's demands and preferred defensive measures. A Netanyahu spokesperson declined to comment."

"In recent weeks, Hezbollah has used cheap, easy-to-assemble First Person View kamikaze drones to transform the war it has been fighting since it began firing on Israel on March 2, days after the US-Israeli forces began their attacks on Iran. Controlled with fibre-optic cables, the FPV drones can evade Israel's high-tech jamming technologies to target its troops occupying southern Lebanon during a shaky ceasefire announced on April 16, a week after the truce in the wider Iran war began."

"Except for a strike targeting a Hezbollah commander in Beirut's southern suburbs earlier this month, there have been no strikes on the capital or its surroundings since the US announced a ceasefire on April 16. However, Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon."

Read at Irish Independent