Israeli officials urge intensified strikes in Lebanon, attacks on Beirut buildings over drone threat

Senior Israeli officials called on Monday for a sharp escalation of strikes in Lebanon, including attacks on buildings in Beirut, in response to the explosive drone attacks targeting IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon, as well as civilian homes, as of Monday, when a drone struck the roof of an Israeli home for the first time. 

Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich said he had approved a budget of roughly two billion shekels this week for technological solutions to the drone threat, including funding to allow civilian bodies to propose out-of-the-box ideas. But he argued that defensive measures alone would not be enough. "The truth is that we will not defeat the drones through defense, but through attack," he said during a visit to the Civil Administration in the West Bank.

"For every explosive drone, ten buildings in Beirut should fall," Smotrich said. "A strategic threat is not answered only with protection, but by changing the rules and the equation. We cannot spread nets over the entire State of Israel, nor cover it with automatic machine guns. We cannot protect ourselves to death. Exacting a deterrent and disproportionate price from the enemy must be part of the effort to defend our fighters."

His comments echoed remarks reportedly made by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who, according to Israeli media, told a cabinet meeting that buildings in Beirut should be struck in response to the drone attacks on Israeli soldiers.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went further, calling for a full return to war. "We must not normalize the reality of explosive drones," he said. "It is time for the Prime Minister to knock on Trump's desk and inform him that we are returning to war in Lebanon. We need to cut off the electricity in Lebanon, occupy Zahrani, and return to a fierce war."

The calls follow a series of explosive drone attacks in southern Lebanon, including an incident in which an IDF soldier, Sergeant Nehoray Leizer, was killed and another severely wounded.