A combat officer was moderately wounded overnight in an encounter with terrorists during what the military described as “operational activity” in southern Lebanon, the IDF said Saturday.
The IDF did not disclose where the incident occurred or provide details about the circumstances of the clash. The officer was evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment, and his family was notified.
(Photo: IDF)
The incident comes amid growing tensions with Hezbollah, which violated the ceasefire earlier this week by launching an explosive drone that struck an engineering vehicle used by Israeli forces on the Ali al-Taher Ridge.
Acting on instructions from the political leadership, the IDF responded by demolishing Hezbollah terror tunnels beneath Beaufort Castle using 700 tons of explosives.
The overnight clash was the first such encounter in more than three weeks. On July 7, a female soldier from the IDF’s Oketz canine unit killed a Hezbollah terrorist during a confrontation inside a building in Bint Jbeil.
A reserve soldier was seriously wounded in that incident, which occurred the previous Thursday. According to the IDF, the forces encountered the terrorist while searching the building.
The latest incident also occurred as Israel and Lebanon move ahead with a pilot plan under which the IDF is expected to redeploy in several villages while the Lebanese army enters them to complete the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. State Department announced that the project had begun in accordance with the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
The first villages included in the initiative are Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya.