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Tag: southern Lebanon

  • IDF announces capture of one of Hamas’s top remaining commanders during overnight operations

    The capture happened after Friday’s strike, in which three out of eight Hamas terrorists were killed while leaving a tunnel in Rafah, the military announced.

    The IDF announced the capture of one of Hamas’s top remaining commanders during Friday’s operation in Rafah, where eight terrorists were identified by troops coming up from below the ground, and were then struck by the Israeli air force, successfully killing three of them.

    After the strikes, the IDF performed searches in the area and apprehended one of the fleeing terrorists. He was later identified as a key commander in Hamas’ Eastern Rafah Battalion.

    “IDF troops, together with the ISA, continue searches and additional activities in the area in order to locate and eliminate the additional terrorists,” the military said.

    According to reports by Army Radio, the other four terrorists identified as leaving the tunnels were not captured, and their location remains unknown.

    Hamas members stand at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, February 7, 2025. (credit: Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

    IDF strikes Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

    Also on Friday, the IDF targeted a Hezbollah terrorist in the Seddiqin area in southern Lebanon, citing several ceasefire violations by the terror organization.

    The IDF said in a statement that the terrorist took part in attempts to reestablish military infrastructure sites belonging to Hezbollah.

    Strikes in southern Lebanon on Hezbollah infrastructure continued into Friday evening, according to IDF updates.

    The IDF also identified four armed terrorists on Friday near the Yellow Line, approaching IDF troops in a way that constituted an immediate threat. The troops alerted the Israeli Air Force, which struck and successfully killed the four terrorists.

    IDF held back during Gaza war to protect hostages’ intelligence

    During the Israel-Hamas War, the IDF sometimes avoided killing certain Gazan terrorists who knew where Israeli hostages were being held, a senior IDF Intelligence Corps commander reported Thursday.

    This disclosure resolved a two-year mystery of how Israel managed to kill Hamas’s leaders while not losing the ability to locate the hostages. At the start of the war, some officials worried that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif might be immune from elimination because they could be the only ones who knew certain hostage information.

    “There is always a dual dilemma” about whether to “let security forces kill terrorists to remove a threat” versus intentionally avoiding killing them to continue gaining intelligence from them, or in this case, use them to maintain updated intelligence and rescue possibilities regarding hostages, the IDF Intelligence officer said.

    Jeremy Yonah Bob contributed to this report.

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  • UNIFIL says IDF forces fire impacted close by, one soldier ‘wounded by gunfire, explosion sound’

    Israeli operations affected one of their patrol, with gunfire and an explosion impacting near their forces, according to a report by UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon.

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported on Friday that Israeli operations interfered with one of their patrols, with gunfire and an explosion impacting near their forces.

    “Heavy machine gunfire from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions south of the Blue Line impacted close to a UNIFIL patrol inspecting a roadblock in the village of Bastarra. The gunfire followed a grenade explosion nearby,” said the statement.

    “While there was no damage to UNIFIL assets, the sound of the gunfire and the explosion left one peacekeeper slightly injured with an ear concussion,” it added.

    In another incident, UNIFIL reported that a patrol in the village of Kfar Shouba heard machine gun fire from Israeli troops near their position.

    UNIFIL vehicles drive in Deir Mimas, southern Lebanon, February 18, 2025; illustrative. (credit: REUTERS/KARAMALLAH DAHER)

    UNIFIL leaks information to Hezbollah

    UNIFIL and the IDF had been clashing in the last couple of months, with the UN’s force targeting IDF surveillance drones and allegedly leaking information to Hezbollah, according to a report by Army Radio.

    On November 30, senior IDF officials fear that photographs and documentation taken by UNIFIL peacekeepers of Israeli military operations on the Lebanon-Israel border are being leaked to Hezbollah, according to Army Radio reports.

    The IDF also discovered an official UNIFIL document which referred to Israel as “the enemy,” which, after Israel demanded answers, Army Radio claimed that UNIFIL apologized for the phrasing, claiming they had “copied the wording of the Lebanese army” and had “forgotten” to correct it.

    Additionally, a drone incident occurred on October 27, when UNIFIL reported that Israeli drones flying over UNIFIL patrols in an “aggressive manner,” stating that “the peacekeepers applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralize the drone.”

    These situations all took place in the context of an imminent UNIFIL withdrawal from Lebanon, with the force set to remain fully operational in the country until 2026, when the operation will begin a year-long “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal.”

    The withdrawal was approved by the United Nations Security Council, with a French resolution that “requests UNIFIL to cease its operations on December 31, 2026, and to start from this date and within one year its orderly and safe… withdrawal… in close consultation with the government of Lebanon.”

    Amichai Stein, Reuters, and The Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.

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  • Lebanon’s President Aoun says country ready for agreement to end Israeli strikes

    Aoun added that talks would also involve the IDF withdrawing from the five outposts in Lebanese territory, where the military said in they would each be manned by a company of troops.

    Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that Lebanon is ready to negotiate with Israel to end strikes on his country from the Jewish state, The Associated Press reported.

    The US outlet also said that Aoun, who announced in a televised speech that Lebanon was ready for negotiations, added that talks would also involve the IDF withdrawing from the five outposts in Lebanese territory, where the military said in February of this year they would each be manned by a company of troops for an indefinite period.

    The Lebanese leader added that the country’s soldiers would be prepared to be dispatched to the areas the IDF withdraws from, including the five aforementioned outposts from which the IDF would pull out in the supposed negotiations.

    IDF struck Hamas in Lebanon earlier this week

    Hours before his speech, the IDF announced that its strike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 13 Hamas terrorists who were operating in a training compound in the area. Among the Hamas terrorists was Jawad Sidawi, who the IDF stated was involved in training terrorists to carry out terror attacks from Israel’s northern neighbor against the Jewish state. The Israeli military said that Lebanon has yet to successfully disarm Palestinian factions in the country, despite their pledge to do so.

    The AP report noted that it hasn’t been made clear whether Israel would agree to engage in negotiations, nor did the Lebanese president mention whether the US or international community would be sponsoring talks.

    Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 3, 2025. (credit: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

    Aoun’s speech also comes a day after the country’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said Lebanon is open to engaging with Israel in a partnership for disempowering Hezbollah, according to a report by Bloomberg.

    Salam was cited in the report as saying that Lebanon would be willing to seek American support for negotiations.

    Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

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  • France responsible for UNIFIL decision to shoot down Israeli drone in southern Lebanon

    France was responsible for deciding to shoot down an Israeli drone in Kafr Kila on Sunday, a diplomatic source told Le Figaro. The outlet also reported that the UNIFIL peacekeepers were French.

    France was responsible for the decision to shoot down an Israeli drone in Kafr Kila, southern Lebanon, on Sunday, a diplomatic source told French outlet Le Figaro on Monday.

    The UNIFIL peacekeepers involved in the incident were from the French military, Le Figaro noted, while commenting that it is rare for peacekeepers to shoot down an Israeli drone.

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) claimed that the Israeli drone came close to a UNIFIL patrol and “dropped a grenade,” followed by an Israeli tank which “fired a shot” towards UNIFIL peacekeepers.

    UNIFIL also claimed that this followed a similar incident earlier on Sunday in the same location where “an Israeli drone flew over the UNIFIL patrol in an aggressive manner.”

    A UN vehicle drives, during a Reuters’ visit at Camp Shamrock where Irish and Polish peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are stationed near Maroun al-Ras village close to the Lebanese-Israeli border, in southern Lebanon November 29, 2023. (credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)

    UNIFIL asserted that the events violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701, as well as Lebanon’s sovereignty.

    IDF disputes UNIFIL’s report of events

    However, the IDF disputed this report of events.

    IDF Arabic Spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee clarified that the original drone was shot down during a routine information-gathering and reconnaissance mission.

    “Preliminary investigations revealed that UNIFIL forces, which were present near the location, deliberately fired at the drone despite it posing no threat to them,” Adraee explained.

    “After the drone was shot down, IDF soldiers threw a hand grenade at the area where the drone was downed,” he added, while confirming that no fire was directed towards UNIFIL peacekeepers, and that the incident will be investigated via military liaison channels.

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  • IDF Brig.-Gen. reassures northern communities after Lebanese civilians approach Israeli border

    Lebanese individuals, allegedly civilians, were seen approaching up to 80 meters from the border with Israel.

    Brigadier-General (Brig.-Gen.) Yuval Gez, commander of the Galilee Division, sent a message on Friday to residents of the northern border, local authorities’ heads, security coordinators, and the regional council heads, clarifying that the rules of engagement have not changed.

    His message comes amid claims from local residents of a weakening of deterrence in recent days, after Lebanese individuals, allegedly civilians, were seen approaching up to 80 meters from the border with Israel.

    “Division 91 and the IDF as a whole are working day and night to prevent the rehabilitation of the Hezbollah terror organization in southern Lebanon.

    Our soldiers, both regular and reservists, carry out raids, destroy infrastructure, and thwart terrorists every day, and we maintain extensive operational freedom,” wrote Brig.-Gen. Gez in his letter.

    The division commander confirmed an increase in attempts to approach agricultural areas during the olive harvest, emphasizing that forces are taking action to distance the suspects.

    Members of the northern town of Katzrin emergency squad train with the IDF and Police in a joint drill, in Katzrin, Golan Heights, on June 11, 2025. (credit: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)

    “We will not allow Hezbollah activity or rehabilitation at the front and will continue to act offensively and consistently,” he clarified.

    “We will continue our ongoing dialogue with you and examine every claim or request, with the goal of ensuring your security.” Gez wrote. Next week, the division will conduct a full-scale exercise, the largest since the beginning of the war.

    IDF targets Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

    On Sunday, the IDF killed a Hezbollah operative near the village of Kalbiyya in southern Lebanon, who was involved in rehabilitating the organization’s military infrastructure.

    Additionally, the IDF attacked an engineering vehicle used for the same purposes by the organization near the village of Blida in the southern region.

    “The Hezbollah terror organization continues its attempts to rehabilitate terror infrastructure throughout Lebanon, while endangering Lebanese civilians and using them as human shields. The actions of the terrorist and the attempts to rehabilitate military infrastructure in southern Lebanon constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” said an IDF spokesperson.

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