Rare Incident in the North: Armed Attacker Crosses From Lebanon, Opens Fire, and Is Killed

An armed attacker carrying a pistol was killed Tuesday afternoon after opening fire on IDF forces in the Ramat Naftali ridge area, near Moshav Margaliot on the Lebanon border. The attacker approached the border fence and fired at a military post in the area, and an IDF force at the scene returned fire and killed him. There were no casualties among the troops. Following the exchange of fire and fears that additional attackers may be in the area, residents near Margaliot were asked to remain in their homes.

A preliminary investigation found that the incident began around 1:30 p.m., when the soldier responsible for logistical transport arrived in the area after receiving a report of a fire. Upon arrival, the soldier identified a suspicious figure wearing a uniform and immediately called in a combat force to the location, which arrived within minutes. Soon after the fighters disembarked at the site, they heard gunfire and opened fire toward the source. In that exchange, the attacker was killed. The entire incident took place near the border, about 1.2 kilometers from Margaliot.

Shortly after the attacker was killed, additional military forces arrived and began extensive foot searches. At the same time, aerial searches were conducted using drones, alongside reinforcements from the Air Force. Following the infiltration, “Night Knight B” procedure was declared and the area was completely sealed off in order to allow the military forces, together with local defense units, including security coordinators, defense platoons, and other security forces, to conduct broad searches to rule out additional threats. During the searches in the field, the attacker was found inside Israeli territory, near the border fence. An long knife and a pistol were found on his body, and he was wearing a uniform. However, it is not known whether he was affiliated with Hezbollah.

At 5:50 p.m., after additional threats were ruled out and following extensive searches and surveillance from the air and the ground, the incident was declared over in coordination with the local authorities. Upon receiving the initial report of the infiltration, the commander of Division 91, Brig. Gen. Yuval Gaz, and the commander of the 769 Regional Brigade, Col. Yuval Mezuz, arrived at the scene together with additional forces, in order to carry out a preliminary inquiry and rule out the possibility of an ongoing incident. The incident was reviewed a short time ago by Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, following the inquiry conducted by Brig. Gen. Gaz at the scene immediately after the event ended. Later, the incident is also expected to be reviewed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

The security establishment is now examining the circumstances of the incident, including whether the attacker managed to cross the border fence. This is a relatively unusual incident, since the attacker was armed with a pistol and not a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Among other things, investigators are checking the suspicion that this was a Hezbollah operative who was “left behind” in the yellow line in southern Lebanon. The working assumption is that there may be additional attackers hiding in the area, since Hezbollah tends to operate in cells and does not usually send lone assailants. In practice, this is a buffer zone seized by IDF forces in southern Lebanon, so the area is supposed to be sterile and without passage by other actors.

Metula local council head David Azulai commented on the infiltration attempt: “This is further proof that there is no security even after nearly three years of war in the north, even when the IDF has created a kind of security strip. The State of Israel must remove the restrictions and allow the IDF to carry out a deep cleaning throughout southern Lebanon, exact a price from Hezbollah for the audacity and the attempt to infiltrate Israeli territory, and make clear that these events will not pass as if nothing happened. The residents of the north deserve security, and the government must stop gambling with our lives.”