IDF Says It Killed Dozens of Hezbollah Fighters in Lebanon as Fighting Intensifies

The Israeli military said Friday it struck two headquarters in Lebanon's Bekaa region used by Hezbollah operatives, and overnight hit more than 80 additional headquarters, launch sites and other terror infrastructure in the Nabatieh area and elsewhere in southern Lebanon, both inside and beyond the security zone. The IDF said dozens of Hezbollah fighters were killed in those strikes. It said the attacks came in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement, and that forces in southern Lebanon are continuing to focus on destroying the strategic underground infrastructure Hezbollah built in the Beaufort area over years.

During the night, the IDF identified Hezbollah launching rockets at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon. In a rapid follow-up, Israeli troops killed two militants who fled the launch site on a motorcycle, then struck and destroyed the launcher used in the attack.

Amid the escalation, an Iranian request for guarantees has delayed planned talks with the United States in Switzerland, according to a senior diplomat quoted by CNN. The diplomat said Iran wanted assurances that the fighting in Lebanon would end, and added that mediators are working to resolve the issue. The source described the talks as being postponed temporarily because of the Israeli strikes, without saying when they might resume.

Separately, the IDF announced that Lt. Col. Dor Gdalia Ben Shimchon, 32, from Kibbutz Beit HaShita and commander of the 52nd Armored Battalion, was killed overnight in combat in southern Lebanon. Three other soldiers were also killed, with their names still barred from publication. An initial investigation found that around 00:20 a suspicious object hit a tank from the 52nd Battalion, operating under the Givati Brigade combat team near the village of Tebnine. The military said it cannot yet confirm that the object was a suicide drone, and the incident remains under review. The IDF also said a reserve officer was seriously wounded, while three reserve noncommissioned officers and one active-duty NCO were lightly wounded by a suicide drone strike in southern Lebanon.