The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pushed ground forces past the “Yellow Line,” the military buffer boundary in southern Lebanon, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an escalation against Hezbollah following a deadly surge in drone attacks that Israeli officials vowed to resolve.
Speaking at a security cabinet session Tuesday, Netanyahu said IDF troops were “seizing commanding areas” and reinforcing the buffer protecting northern Israeli communities. “We are not taking our foot off the gas. On the contrary, I have instructed them to press the pedal even harder,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today, at the start of the Security Cabinet meeting:
“As per the directive of myself, the Defense Minister and the IDF Chief of Staff, we are deepening our operation in Lebanon. The IDF is operating with large forces on the ground and seizing… pic.twitter.com/GBLuWgEbyl— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 26, 2026
The push past the Yellow Line addresses a tactical problem Israel has not yet solved. Channel 12 reported that an unnamed IDF official involved in security cabinet discussions acknowledged the military is “defenseless” against first-person view (FPV) drones guided by fiber-optic cables. These drones maintain a hardwired connection that renders them immune to electronic jamming. The IDF has thinned troop deployments in southern Lebanon to limit exposure to the threat, the report said.
A senior U.S. official said Hezbollah fired more than 1,000 drones and 700 rockets at Israel, ignoring repeated requests to halt attacks. “Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians. This is not the Biden administration,” the official told The Times of Israel.
The IDF struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites overnight, then issued an evacuation order for Nabatieh before targeting the southern Lebanese city Tuesday. Lebanese health authorities reported at least 28 people killed in the latest strikes.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued since March 2, 2026, despite an April 16 ceasefire. Lebanese authorities have reported more than 3,100 killed since the conflict began. Netanyahu said Israeli forces had eliminated “more than 600” Hezbollah fighters in recent weeks, and vowed to “intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and crush them.”
