Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Thursday’s severe exchange of fire in southern Lebanon, in which the commander of the IDF’s 52nd Armored Brigade battalion, Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Shimon, was killed along with three other soldiers whose names had not yet been cleared for publication. He sent condolences to the bereaved families and wished the wounded a swift recovery.
Netanyahu said Hezbollah’s attack was “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” and said that, as a result, he had ordered the IDF the previous night to strike Hezbollah “with force.” He added that the military would continue to act against any threat to Israeli forces and territory.
Following the political directive, the IDF launched a broad retaliatory wave of strikes in Lebanon. According to the report, more than 80 terror targets were hit and dozens of militants were killed. The attacks continued into Friday morning, when fighter jets struck Hezbollah headquarters in the Bekaa region.
On Friday morning, Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a joint situational assessment to review the next operational steps. Netanyahu said Israel would not tolerate attacks on its soldiers or land and would impose “a very heavy price” on Hezbollah. He also said Israel would remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon “as long as necessary” to protect northern communities.
