Israeli Military Says Four Soldiers Killed in Southern Lebanon Combat

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Israeli military said Tuesday that four soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a military statement that named three of the dead as members of the same battalion and said a fourth soldier, who had not yet been publicly identified, died in the same incident.

A separate statement said another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist was moderately wounded.

The military did not immediately provide additional details about the location or timing of the incident in which the four soldiers died. The announcement came as fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli front continued to intensify, with Israeli airstrikes, cross-border fire and ground operations reported on successive days.

On Monday, Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing at least three members of Hezbollah and wounding several others, according to a security source cited by AFP.

The source said the strike hit an apartment used as an office by Hezbollah and left three members dead and three others seriously injured. The Israeli military said it had begun striking what it called Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure” in Beirut after issuing evacuation warnings to residents in the targeted area.

An AFP photographer at the scene reported that the apartment was in a densely populated neighborhood with shops and commercial buildings, several of which were damaged in the blast.

Armed Hezbollah members established a security cordon around the site, and eyewitnesses said casualties were evacuated shortly after the strike.

The airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs were part of a wider Israeli campaign that resumed Monday, with additional strikes reported in the capital’s outskirts and in southern Lebanon.

In one attack, Israeli forces struck a Lebanese army checkpoint in the Tyre area, killing one soldier and wounding others, according to a military source that described it as the first direct strike on a Lebanese army checkpoint since the conflict began.

The violence has also affected international peacekeepers.

A spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said several peacekeepers were wounded Monday in an unspecified incident near Bani Hayyan. 

The announcement came a day after an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others were injured when a projectile of unknown origin hit a UN position near the border.

The latest fighting follows a sharp deterioration in regional security after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks against Israel on March 2, describing them as retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, according to the background material.

The attacks marked the opening phase of a broader confrontation linked to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. 

Israel has since carried out extensive airstrikes across Lebanon and launched a ground offensive in the south.

Lebanese authorities have said more than 1,200 people have been killed since the start of hostilities, including civilians, paramedics and journalists.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has continued to claim attacks against Israeli targets, including strikes on military positions and an intelligence facility near Tel Aviv, according to the background reports.

The Israeli military said Monday that one of its soldiers was killed and another was seriously wounded during fighting in southern Lebanon, bringing the total number of Israeli military fatalities in the Lebanese theater to six at that point, according to the same reports.

Tuesday’s announcement added four more deaths to the toll the army has publicly acknowledged in the southern Lebanon campaign.

A report published by Ynet News said Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon are expanding a designated security zone and that military and defense officials expect troops may remain deployed deep inside Lebanese territory for months or even years.

The report said a security official told the outlet that the Lebanese government is unable to disarm Hezbollah, and that Israeli troops are operating under heavy and continuous fire, including artillery barrages, rocket launches and anti-tank missiles.

Ynet News also reported that soldiers on the ground are working to establish fire control over the area, destroy militant infrastructure and clear weapons caches.

The outlet said the Israeli military has pushed Hezbollah forces farther from the border, but that the group continues to launch sustained attacks with rockets, drones and anti-tank missiles. One soldier quoted by the publication said, “We flatten what we can,” adding, “This is a combat zone that is being reshaped.”

The report also said the Israeli military recently released footage of its specialized Alpinist Unit conducting a cross-border operation in mountainous terrain from the Syrian Hermon to Mount Dov, with the stated aim of locating and dismantling what the army called terrorist infrastructure and preventing armed groups from establishing a permanent foothold along the border.