Five Israeli fighters wounded by Hezbollah explosive drones in South Lebanon

Five fighters were wounded Wednesday morning in southern Lebanon after two explosive drones, launched one after another, detonated near Israeli forces. One was seriously hurt, two were moderately injured, and two others were lightly wounded. The incident came as reports said Iran and the United States had reached understandings on a draft deal that could also bring a ceasefire to Lebanon, though fighting continued on the ground.

The first blast happened around 6:00 a.m. when a drone exploded near a tank belonging to the Givati Brigade combat team in the Tebnine area. Fragments from that explosion wounded four fighters, who were evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Minutes later, a second explosive drone hit an evacuation vehicle, wounding one more soldier. The Israel Defense Forces then struck terror infrastructure in the area with artillery fire.

Amid the fighting, Iran threatened last night that if Israel keeps attacking in southern Lebanon, it should expect a “severe response” from Tehran’s military forces. The warning followed a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon earlier in the day, which reports said killed four people. Iran also claimed the Israeli army had violated the ceasefire in southern Lebanon 84 times in the previous two days, after the U.S. president announced the war’s end, a claim the IDF does not recognize.

The IDF said fighters from the 36th Division remain in the Beaufort area and on the ridge, clearing underground and above-ground terrorist infrastructure. The troops are moving constantly rather than staying static, officials said, and are not capturing new territory. They are not withdrawing from occupied areas yet, and are still opening routes for supply and vehicle movement. The military had already been in the final stages of the operation before the Iran-U.S. memorandum, and was preparing for further orders, including possible moves in the Nabatieh area and nearby villages, or a reduction of forces back toward the “yellow line.” Donald Trump said at the G7 with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi that the deal was “great,” stressing that Iran would never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.