Hezbollah Launches Explosive Drone at IDF in South Lebanon, Israel Responds with Major Strike

In the past 24 hours, Hezbollah launched an explosive drone targeting an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit in southern Lebanon. The attack caused no casualties or damage. The IDF initially withheld information about the incident, following orders from Northern Command Chief Major General Rafi Milo, but later confirmed the details to ynet. Military sources requested that no further operational details be disclosed.

This event followed a deadly attack two days earlier, in which two IDF reservists from the Paratroopers Brigade 55, Major (res.) Harel Birnstok and Captain (res.) Tamir Vaknin, were killed and four others seriously wounded by an explosive device during a booby-trapped building search. These were the first IDF fatalities since the June 2026 ceasefire. The IDF labeled Hezbollah's actions as violations of the ceasefire and initially sought a strong military response, but the political leadership restrained such measures, limiting the IDF to targeted strikes in southern Lebanon.

The IDF is conducting a thorough investigation into the recent attacks, including whether the explosive device was planted before or after the ceasefire took effect, and if Hezbollah operatives knowingly detonated it while IDF forces were present. Last week, Hezbollah also deployed an explosive drone against an IDF engineering vehicle in the Ali Taher ridge area, which was damaged but caused no injuries.

Following these incidents, the IDF Chief of Staff instructed Northern Command to immediately retaliate against Hezbollah targets upon such attacks, pending political approval. Subsequently, with Prime Minister approval, the IDF destroyed a large underground Hezbollah "Badr" unit command facility in the Bofor ridge area using approximately 700 tons of explosives. Israeli military and political officials directly linked this destruction to Hezbollah’s drone attack.

The IDF emphasized that information is released based on operational considerations and to avoid compromising forces in combat zones.