Key facts
- An Israeli soldier was killed and 13 others were wounded in an attack in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
- The attack involved rockets and a drone striking an Israeli military position.
- Soldiers were reportedly engaged in an operation to capture a Hezbollah facility.
- Five Israeli soldiers have died and 13 have been injured in separate incidents over two days.
- Hezbollah launched over 50 projectiles at IDF positions overnight.
- The IDF responded with strikes on Hezbollah targets.
An Israeli soldier was killed and 13 others were wounded in an attack in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to reports. The incident involved a barrage of rockets and a drone striking an Israeli military position in the Kfar Tebnit area, where soldiers were reportedly engaged in an operation to capture a major underground Hezbollah facility beneath the Ali Taher Ridge.
The attack follows reports of four other Israeli soldiers being killed in operations linked to the same objective the previous day. Over the weekend, the IDF announced that five soldiers had died and 13 were injured in separate incidents in southern Lebanon within two days of a ceasefire announcement.
In one incident on Friday, three soldiers were killed when a projectile struck a tank belonging to 52nd Battalion forces operating near the village of Tebnit. Another soldier was killed in the same incident. Later, Hezbollah attacked IDF positions in the Lebanon buffer zone overnight with over 50 projectiles, killing Sgt. First Class Nir Ben-Ari and wounding 13 other soldiers.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, Chief Sergeant First Class (res.) Alexander Filin was killed when a Hezbollah IED exploded near a team of soldiers from the 36th Division and the Givati Brigade. Seven other soldiers were wounded in this blast, including an officer and a reserve officer who were moderately wounded.
Earlier that week, two Hezbollah explosive drones wounded five soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. Four soldiers were wounded by shrapnel from the first drone, and a fifth soldier was wounded by a second drone. One soldier was severely wounded, two moderately, and two lightly.
The IDF responded to these attacks with artillery fire and strikes on Hezbollah terrorists, terror infrastructure sites, rocket launch positions, weapons storage facilities, and command centers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to hold fire until further notice. Lebanese authorities reported at least 20 people were killed in the strikes on Lebanon.