The Israeli military launched a wave of retaliatory strikes across southern Lebanon on Wednesday after two of its soldiers were killed and four seriously wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated during a combat operation in the town of Majdal Zoun.
The soldiers died when the IED blew up as troops entered a building in the Tyre district during a mission to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, according to Israeli media reports citing an initial military investigation. It was not immediately clear when the device was planted or how it was detonated.
Later the same day, the Israel Defense Forces said it had begun conducting strikes in Lebanon in response to what it called a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire by Hezbollah. The Iran-backed armed group has not commented on the incident. Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed that one person was killed and 12 others injured in an Israeli strike that hit the prayer hall at a cemetery in the southern town of Tibnin.
Israeli forces also issued their first evacuation order for southern Lebanon since mid-June, telling residents of Mansouri to leave ahead of what the military described as “forceful action.” An Israeli military source said the town fell inside the declared security zone and that displaced residents had returned under the auspices of the Lebanese army, which had established a checkpoint in violation of existing agreements.
The escalation came as Israeli and Lebanese officials attended another round of US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at preserving the ceasefire that ended a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. In late June, the three countries agreed a trilateral framework under which the Israeli military would gradually withdraw from occupied territory in southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has rejected that agreement, saying provisions linking Israeli withdrawal to the group’s disarmament cross “all red lines.” The two soldiers killed on Wednesday were the first Israeli military fatalities in Lebanon since June 28.
Since the ceasefire was announced, Lebanese health authorities have recorded the killing of 353 people. The overall conflict, which began on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, has claimed at least 4,333 lives in Lebanon including 392 women and 253 children. Israeli authorities report 40 soldiers and four civilians killed on both sides of the border.
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