Battalion commander, three soldiers killed overnight in Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon
An IDF tank battalion commander and three soldiers were killed overnight in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon, the military announced, yet Israel was expected to ceasefire agaunst adamant Hezbollah.
The officer was named as Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, commander of the 52nd Battalion in the 401st Armored Brigade, from Beit HaShita.
The names of the three other soldiers are expected to be released later.
The incident took place shortly after midnight in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebnit, where a suspected drone or anti-tank missile struck the commander’s tank, killing all four crew members.
The IDF says it is still investigating the exact cause of the explosion.
Ben Simhon had taken command of the battalion after the previous commander was seriously wounded in southern Lebanon in April.
In another Incident in Lebanon, the IDF says five soldiers were wounded overnight in a separate Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon, including one seriously.
According to the military, a Hezbollah explosive drone struck Commando Brigade forces in the village of Kfar Tebnit, several hours after a deadly strike on a tank in the same area.
A reservist officer was seriously wounded, three reservist soldiers were moderately injured, and an NCO sustained light injuries.
The IDF says the wounded troops were evacuated to a hospital for treatment, and their families have been notified.
Meanwhile, Iran deal may be in jeopardy as IDF launches large scale attacks across Lebanon:
The IDF says it has killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives in a wave of strikes on more than 80 targets across southern and eastern Lebanon since last night, following several Hezbollah attacks on Israeli troops.
According to the military, the overnight strikes targeted Hezbollah command centers, rocket launchers, and other infrastructure in the Nabatieh area and elsewhere in southern Lebanon.
A short while ago, the IDF also struck two Hezbollah command centers in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, which the military says were manned at the time.
“During the strikes, dozens of Hezbollah terrorists who were operating in those command centers were eliminated,” the IDF says.
The military says the strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah’s “repeated violations” of the ceasefire.
Separately, Hezbollah fired several rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon overnight.
The IDF says it later struck and killed two Hezbollah operatives who fled the launch site on a motorcycle, and also destroyed the launcher used in the attack.
According to an analysis, Iran, having predictably identified the unimaginable weakness of the Trump administration, is trying to force the United States to compel Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanon.
Ostensibly, the goal of the Iranian move is to achieve a strategic victory by removing Israel from Lebanon. In practice, it is far more ambitious, the Iranians understand that an IDF withdrawal from Lebanon would lead northern Israel’s residents to abandon their communities, resulting, for the first time in history, in the de facto loss of a region within Israel’s 1948 borders.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is now facing one of the greatest leadership tests of his career. He must stand up to President Trump and to the United States, and prevent an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon at all costs, because the alternative would be a disaster of historic proportions, with consequences no one can predict. – Tamir Morag, Channel 14.
