Katz Says IDF Will Stay in Lebanon Security Zone After Deadly Clash

Following fierce exchanges of fire in southern Lebanon on Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a forceful statement on the deaths of four IDF soldiers and the army’s wider response to ceasefire violations. He mourned Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Shimchon, commander of the IDF’s 52nd Battalion, and three other soldiers whose names had not yet been cleared for publication. Katz called Ben Shimchon “a brave, determined and devoted commander” who held senior roles in the northern sector during the campaign and led his troops in battle. He offered condolences to the bereaved families and said he was strengthening the wounded and their comrades continuing the mission.

Katz said the IDF had struck more than 80 targets and killed dozens of militants in Hezbollah strongholds in the Bekaa Valley and the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon. He said the attacks were retaliation for fire on IDF troops and that the operation was still ongoing. “We will not allow harm to our soldiers and our civilians,” he said, adding that any Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire would be met “with great force.”

The minister also defined the area in which Israeli forces would continue to operate, saying the IDF would remain in Lebanon’s security zone, “from the seashore to the summit of Beaufort,” to protect northern Israeli communities, foil threats and destroy terror infrastructure above and below ground.