Israeli army pressuring political leadership to return to striking Beirut, report says

The Israeli army is pressuring the political leadership to return to striking Beirut, but U.S. President Donald Trump is not allowing it, according to an Israeli media report.

The Yedioth Ahronoth report emphasized that Lebanon remains tethered to the broader Iranian conflict, which does not serve Israel’s interests.

While Lebanese leaders have asserted that only the state can negotiate on behalf of the country, Hezbollah and Iran maintain that the current ceasefire in Lebanon was an Iranian-imposed condition.

Trump meanwhile insists on a ceasefire, even if it allows Hezbollah to continue its operations while the war persists for residents of northern Israel and Israeli ground forces, the report said.

"In terms of aerial freedom of action, we have gone backward," the report stated. "We must hope this problematic situation is temporary — until Trump resumes the campaign against Iran and we can return to creating a different reality in Lebanon. However, we cannot allow this window of time to last too long." The report further stressed that the drone threat from Hezbollah is rapidly "getting out of control."

Hezbollah’s FPV drones are relatively inexpensive compared to other weapons, such as anti-tank guided missiles. Built largely from off-the-shelf components and 3D-printed parts, they typically carry RPG warheads. While plentiful, these warheads are only marginally effective against heavy Israeli armor; however, they have proven lethal against infantry.

The Israeli military currently lacks an effective defense against these explosive drones guided by fiber-optic cables, Israeli media reports say.

The Israeli army is unable to stop Hezbollah's FPV attack drones, the newspaper said, as it accused the political leadership of indifference. "Israel must respond to the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles... Hezbollah is launching drones repeatedly, operating on the ground as if it were entirely under its control. How is it possible that Hezbollah’s UAV commanders are operating in southern Lebanon almost undisturbed?"

"This is no longer an emerging threat but a real, established danger — and it is likely the most problematic threat on the northern front today, primarily because there is currently no effective response to it," the report said.