The IDF launched a wave of strikes overnight Friday against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, continuing through the morning and extending deeper into the country. Lebanese reports also confirmed strikes in Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. The attacks came after a particularly hard night for the army, in which four IDF soldiers were killed, including Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, commander of Battalion 52. The names of three additional soldiers killed in the same incident have not yet been cleared for publication.
IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said that around 12:30 a.m. a tank belonging to Battalion 52 was hit. The army still does not know what struck the tank, and the incident is under investigation. As a result, Ben Shimon and three other soldiers were killed. Around 4:00 a.m., an explosive drone hit a force from the commando brigade, wounding five soldiers, including one officer in serious condition.
Defrin said the army continues to operate in the area because Hezbollah keeps violating the agreement. He said the IDF had published its operational map the day before, and that “in the yellow line area” Israeli forces have freedom of action. “I verified this personally,” he said. “In this area, the IDF has freedom of action to operate as needed. Beyond this area we are authorized to use fire to remove immediate threats.”
He added that the IDF is ready at any time to return to intense fighting, both in Lebanon and in Iran. According to Defrin, the head of military intelligence told him that the Nabatieh area is very important to Hezbollah and that the group is trying to block Israeli activity there. He described the fighting as defensive, saying, “There are no engagements, this is blocking combat.” Before the overnight incidents, 30 targets were struck, and after them another 70 targets were hit, from the air and from the ground. When asked about the purpose of operations near Tebein, he said the area was included in the line defined the day before and that the IDF was operating only in territory approved by the political leadership. He also said the area poses a threat to communities near the border because it is the center of gravity of the Nabatieh sector and the Badr Unit.
