Four IDF soldiers injured in southern Lebanon clash with Hezbollah gunman

Four Israeli soldiers, including two officers, were injured in a clash with a Hezbollah gunman in southern Lebanon on Thursday night, the military said Friday, as Israel and Lebanon were set for another day of direct talks in Washington.

It came as the head of the Hezbollah terror group said Israel must leave southern Lebanon, arguing that a US-Iran understanding spelled “defeat” for Israel, and as the cabinet is reportedly divided on how to proceed with the situation, with some calling for the current ceasefire to be scrapped in defiance of the United States.

According to a probe by the Israel Defense Forces of the Thursday incident, at around 10 p.m. in the Beit Yahoun area, a Hezbollah operative who was hiding in a building threw a grenade at Israeli troops.

A combat officer was moderately hurt in the incident, and another officer and two soldiers were lightly hurt, the IDF said.

They were taken to the hospital for treatment, and their families were notified.

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Within a few minutes, the forces returned fire, killing the operative, the probe found.

The IDF also struck several Hezbollah sites in the area with artillery and airstrikes following the attack.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed seven Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, after they were identified transporting weapons near Israel’s buffer zone, the military said.

The IDF said the operatives were spotted by troops of the Egoz Commando Unit near the village of Manzleh, moving weapons into a structure “used as a combat and observation post” and to prepare to carry out attacks on troops.

צפו בתיעוד: צה"ל חיסל להסרת איום שבעה מחבלי חיזבאללה שהעבירו אמצעי לחימה בסמוך לכוחות צה"ל בדרום לבנון

חיל האוויר בהכוונת כוחות יחידת אגוז, תקף וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום שבעה מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שהעבירו אמצעי לחימה בסמוך למרחב הביטחוני בו פועלים כוחות צה"ל בדרום לבנון.… pic.twitter.com/a0lzEQGbhh

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 26, 2026

“The terrorists’ actions at the post alongside the presence of the weapons within it constituted a threat to the soldiers,” the military said.

On Thursday, the IDF said it killed at least six Hezbollah operatives who posed a threat to troops operating in southern Lebanon.

According to the military, in one incident on Thursday in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, troops of the Golani Brigade spotted five Hezbollah operatives near them. In another incident, in the Ali Taher ridge area, troops of the Commando Brigade spotted an armed Hezbollah gunman.

In both incidents, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes and the ground forces opened fire on the operatives, killing them.

The military said it continues to operate at the Ali Taher ridge, beneath which Hezbollah has a massive underground complex, where some 30 operatives are holed up.

The IDF said it will “not allow Hezbollah terrorists to exit the underground tunnel network or operate in the area of the ridge.”

לאחר שזוהו במרחב הביטחוני: צה"ל חיסל מחבלי חיזבאללה שהיוו איום על כוחותינו הפועלים במרחב ההגנה הקדמי

מוקדם יותר היום (ה'), כוחות צוות הקרב החטיבתי גולני בפיקוד אוגדה 36 הפועלים בזוטר א-שרקייה, זיהו חמישה מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שהיוו איום על כוחותינו הפועלים בתוך המרחב… pic.twitter.com/uNRdIgou5P

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 25, 2026

On Friday, Lebanese media reported that flyers had been dropped by an IDF drone over the southern Lebanon town of Mansouri, close to Tyre, reading: “Danger Zone! Stay Away! Any approach toward Israeli army forces puts you in danger.”

There was no immediate confirmation from the IDF.

صورة للمناشير التي القاها العـ دو في المنصوري pic.twitter.com/Hh72S04xBj

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) June 26, 2026

The Iran-backed Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into war when it began attacking Israel in March to support Iran after the US and Israel launched joint strikes. A memorandum of understanding signed last week by the US and Iran halted their war for 60 days while negotiations for a final ceasefire are held.

The MOU included ending the fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has established a security zone aimed at keeping Hezbollah from the border. In addition, Israel and Hezbollah reached their own mediated agreement — which reduced the fighting — though clashes have continued on a daily basis. Israeli leaders have said they are not bound by the MOU and have vowed that forces will remain in southern Lebanon until the Hezbollah threat is removed. However, under pressure from the US, Israel has told the IDF to hold its fire, though the military still strikes at threats to troops.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday Israel has “no option” but to unconditionally withdraw from Lebanese areas it occupies, as he rejected any normalization in ties between the countries amid ongoing direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut.

“Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land… Israel must leave unconditionally,” he said in a televised address to tens of thousands of supporters marking Ashura, a day of mourning for the death of a key figure in Shiite Islam.

As Lebanese and Israeli officials hold direct talks in Washington for an agreement, Qassem said his terror group would accept “no normalization, no cancellation of the state of hostility, no gains for Israel, and no partial presence on Lebanese soil… Israel must leave humiliated and defeated, and that is what will happen.”

Qassem claimed that the US-Iran deal signed last week was a declaration of defeat for Israel and America, after the agreement also reduced fighting between his terror group and Israel.

“They wanted a major war… to eliminate our existence,” Qassem said.

“We were able to stop this aggression and achieve a great victory… We have shattered the Israeli-American project and entered a new phase,” he added. Iran “was able to reach the memorandum of understanding, which is an official declaration of the defeat of America and Israel.”

Israeli and Lebanese officials have since Tuesday been holding a fresh round of direct talks in Washington, without reaching a deal. The parties agreed to add an extra session of talks, with a fourth day of talks set for Friday.

Ministers argue over Lebanon policy

On Thursday night, Israeli ministers clashed with security officials over policy in southern Lebanon, according to Hebrew media reports.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both defended strategies and insisted that the IDF has approval to strike out at any threats, far-right ministers were said to be critical, claiming troops are being held back, multiple reports said.

“What happens with an emerging threat?” asked National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, referring to reports that only threats defined as “immediate” can prompt military action, and not those classified as “emerging.”

“If we see Hezbollah rearming, why aren’t we taking it apart?” he said.

“There are soldiers being injured,” Ben Gvir said. “This is an opportunity to collapse the ceasefire. We can cover hundreds of targets and bomb them.”

Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock of the far-right Religious Zionism party backed Ben Gvir, asserting that soldiers feel like they are sitting targets and that Hezbollah is rearming in southern Lebanon.

“We respond to every immediate threat to soldiers in the field,” Netanyahu said, “We don’t limit any soldier. The Americans understand our right to protect ourselves.”

“Every soldier can respond immediately,” Katz asserted, according to the reports. “There are advantages and disadvantages to the ceasefire, but we are not endangering any soldier.”

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir intervened, telling ministers: “You wanted the ceasefire.”

“I didn’t want the ceasefire exactly for this reason,” Ben Gvir said.

Ben Gvir went public with his position on Friday when he visited Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market on its busiest day of the week.

“The ceasefire can’t continue,” he said. “As soon as the Lebanese, as Hezbollah, try to harm our soldiers, as soon as they rearm, we need to collapse the ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed France’s and Italy’s efforts to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in his country, whose mandate expires at the end of the year.

In a statement, Aoun called the initiative “a sincere expression of the international commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability.”

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Italy “want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces” and prevent its territory from being “a foothold for regional escalation.”

The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon is made up of roughly 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries, and has been in place since 1978, although its presence has not prevented repeated outbreaks of conflict.

Israel has long argued that the observer force has failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over the decades, and completely failing to implement a 2006 UN Security Council resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and moved out of southern Lebanon.

Last August, the Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026.

On Thursday, after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Macron said that France and Italy “want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces” and prevent its territory from being “a foothold for regional escalation.”

France is one of UNIFIL’s largest contributing countries.

Aoun also stressed Lebanon’s eagerness for “any international formula that strengthens the capabilities of its armed forces, preserves its territorial integrity, and prevents its land from becoming an arena for escalation or regional tensions.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that peacekeepers will be needed in Lebanon after the mandate of the current mission expires, a suggestion likely to face opposition from the United States and Israel.

Earlier this month, he proposed three options ranging from nearly 2,000 to more than 5,500 UN personnel to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and support the Lebanese armed forces.