4 Israeli soldiers killed in Hezbollah attack; Israel strikes over 80 targets in retaliation

Smoke rises over southern Lebanon's Nabatieh after an Israeli airstrike on Friday (local time). [AFP]
Smoke rises over southern Lebanon's Nabatieh after an Israeli airstrike on Friday (local time). [AFP]

A renewed escalation of armed conflict between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has sharply disrupted follow-up negotiations between the United States and Iran following their ceasefire agreement.

The casualties inflicted on Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon by Hezbollah's attacks have raised expectations of a large-scale Israeli retaliatory offensive.

The Israeli military announced Friday (local time) that four soldiers — a tank battalion commander and three crew members — were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon overnight.

The slain commander was Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Shimhon, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade. Three crew members aboard the same tank also died.

The Israeli military said a projectile — likely a drone or anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah — struck Ben Shimhon's tank directly in the village of Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon.

Hours later, the military said a Hezbollah suicide drone attack in the same village left one reserve officer from a special forces unit seriously wounded, while four others — including reserve non-commissioned officers and enlisted soldiers — sustained minor injuries.

Israel also launched intense strikes on more than 80 Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon from the previous night through Friday morning — just one day after the US and Iran signed a ceasefire memorandum of understanding.

The strikes targeted Hezbollah command posts, rocket launchers and other infrastructure. The military added that dozens of Hezbollah operatives were killed in the raids.

According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, Israeli airstrikes on 11 towns killed at least 18 people and wounded 33.

The ministry said the strikes disrupted rescue operations and made it difficult for residents to flee, warning that the death toll was likely to rise.

The Israeli military said its strikes were a response to repeated truce violations by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

With Israeli forces suffering significant casualties from Hezbollah's attacks, the likelihood of a major Israeli retaliatory offensive has grown, casting a shadow over the US-Iran ceasefire agreement and follow-up negotiations.

The armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is the single greatest risk to the US-Iran ceasefire deal and the ongoing follow-up talks.

Iran has invoked the MOU's provisions on "guaranteeing Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty" to demand that Israeli forces withdraw from southern Lebanon, arguing that Israel's refusal to do so effectively nullifies the agreement.

Israel has said it will maintain its military presence in southern Lebanon and continue operations until the security threat posed by Hezbollah is fully eliminated.

The first working-level talks between the US and Iran, scheduled to be held in Switzerland on Friday, ultimately fell through amid the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament and the country's chief negotiator with the United States, warned that any negotiations with Washington would proceed only within the red lines set by the Iranian government.

Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker, told Reuters that Iran had conveyed its position that it could not continue dialogue with the United States without a comprehensive truce being implemented.

Israel, too, showed no sign of backing down. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement issued in Hebrew, said he had ordered a forceful strike against Hezbollah in response to what he called its "criminal attacks" in violation of the truce. "Israel will never tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and Hezbollah will pay a heavy price," he warned.


dingdong@heraldcorp.com