Hezbollah is testing new tactics on the battlefield in southern Lebanon, involving the development of the types of weapons it uses in combat and the incorporation of new technologies, aiming to reduce human losses among its ranks as its fighters adapt to the field. The party has notably increased its use of drones and guided missiles since the start of the week, targeting concentrations of Israeli soldiers, as well as Israeli settlements and towns in the north with large volleys of Katyusha rockets, coinciding with a new escalation in the field amid stalled negotiations in Cairo to end the Gaza war.
Field sources told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that Hezbollah fighters have begun following new military strategies in the field, indicating that these depend on new techniques and weapons introduced to the battle, which are being used to carry out strikes in deeper areas and conduct targeted operations based on security information from within, referencing the use of drones and combined attacks against concentrations of Israeli soldiers. Last month, these operations resulted in the deaths of at least three Israeli soldiers, the most intense of which occurred during the attack in Arab al-Aramsheh in western Galilee.
Sources monitoring the dynamics of the battle in the south noted that Hezbollah fighters have adapted to the field, referring to the nature of the war, which has forced them to fight from a distance of about 5 to 7 kilometers along the border with Israel, requiring a constant presence of fighters. This is contrasted with Israeli drones that continuously patrol the skies of the region, making it a different front from all the wars the party has fought previously, according to military experts.
Additionally, the party has changed its military tactics to limit human losses, according to sources, by introducing new technologies that had not been used before. These techniques have contributed to reducing human losses and protecting fighters who have been deployed in the field since the beginning of the war, without disclosing the nature of these techniques, which only the fighters themselves know.
As of Tuesday, no casualties have been reported among Hezbollah fighters over the past three weeks, a notable change from the past when the party often mourned fighters killed in the field, numbering around 255. In the initial stage, its fighters faced deadly attacks, especially in the first three weeks in the field, due to Israeli drones that were constantly in the skies of the south.
Following that phase, Israel resorted late last year to targeting homes and military centers with violent airstrikes launched by Israeli aircraft, leading to the death of many Hezbollah fighters. In a third phase, the party also suffered losses due to assassinations carried out by Israeli drones targeting fighters, an Israeli activity that decreased after the party's response to the assassination of an engineer by targeting his car in the town of Adloun, which included strikes around the city of Akka three weeks ago using drone swarms.
Since the escalation began between Hezbollah and Israel, at least 390 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 255 Hezbollah members and more than 70 civilians, according to a tally prepared by Agence France-Presse, based on party data and official Lebanese sources. The Israeli side has reported 13 military and 9 civilian fatalities.
