Following the deadly attack, the IDF carried out strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Nabatieh area.<\/p>\n
The attack came after four soldiers were killed<\/a> in a Hezbollah attack on a tank in southern Lebanon early Friday morning, also amid operations to capture the facility beneath Ali Taher.<\/p>\n In that attack, Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, the commander of the 52nd Battalion, and three members of his crew were killed after a drone or anti-tank missile struck their tank.<\/p>\n Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, from Herzliya, and Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia, 20, from Hod Hasharon, were identified by the military on Saturday as two of the slain soldiers.<\/p>\n \t The name of the fourth soldier killed in the attack has not yet been published, but was expected to be released by the military soon.<\/p>\n A military probe has determined that, contrary to several media reports, the tank was hit by Hezbollah fire, and the blast was not the cause of a malfunction. The IDF believes the tank was struck by an anti-tank guided missile or a drone carrying an anti-tank warhead.<\/p>\n The IDF has assessed that Hezbollah has a major \u201cstrategic\u201d underground facility beneath the Ali Taher ridge, which is located near Nabatieh. According to the military, the underground site is the \u201cnerve center\u201d of Hezbollah\u2019s Badr regional division.<\/p>\n According to the military, dozens of Hezbollah operatives remain holed up underground in the area, and fighting has taken place above and below ground in recent days.<\/p>\n The ridge was originally not included in the military\u2019s security zone in southern Lebanon, but on Thursday the IDF published an updated map of the \u201cforward defense area,\u201d which now includes Ali Taher, along with the Majdal Zoun area.<\/p>\n \t After the Hezbollah attacks that killed the IDF troops, Israel carried out a wave of strikes<\/a> in southern and eastern Lebanon overnight and into Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n The terror group, violating a ceasefire, had launched more than 175 projectiles at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon over the past day, according to Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s retaliatory strikes killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 26, first responders and Lebanese media reported.<\/p>\n The IDF said Saturday it had \u201chalted its fire\u201d outside its declared \u201csecurity zone\u201d in southern Lebanon, in accordance with instructions from the political leadership, but would continue its operations within the zone.<\/p>\n \t The weekend fighting came after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, in which the Islamic Republic agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the US to lift its blockade on Iranian ships and ports.<\/p>\n On Saturday, days after the strait was reopened, Iran\u2019s central military command claimed to have once again closed it, saying the IDF strikes in southern Lebanon violated the agreement.<\/p>\n The US military, however, denied the strait was shuttered, saying it remained open and that US forces were monitoring the situation to ensure that continued.<\/p>\n Israel was not part of the negotiating process leading up to the MoU, nor was it a signatory to the agreement; however, the memorandum<\/a> purported to obligate both the US \u201cand its allies\u201d to \u201can immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Hezbollah, which has kept up incessant drone and rocket attacks on Israel\u2019s north, dragged Lebanon into the regional war with Iran in early March by firing rockets at Israel for the first time since a November 2024 ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a full-scale invasion in Lebanon, subsequently establishing a buffer zone that currently runs up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep from the border into Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n Hezbollah\u2019s renewed attacks on Israel came in response to the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran on February 28. The fighting in Iran entered a truce on April 8 even as Israel and Hezbollah continued exchanging fire.<\/p>\n Under the November 2024 deal, which ended over a year of earlier hostilities initiated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese army was supposed to disarm the terror group. Beirut has so far failed to do so.<\/p>\n In the US-brokered Israeli-Lebanese talks that began in April, the sides affirmed their support for the 2024 agreement. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has slammed the Lebanese government for negotiating directly with Israel.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/soldiers52-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tL-R: Staff Sgt. Liav Kababia, 20, Staff Sgt. Yoav Klein, 21, and Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, who were killed in southern Lebanon on June 20, 2026. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26171407229557-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tRescue workers and people search for survivors under the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Qannarit village, southern Lebanon, on June 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mohammed Zaatari)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260620__B7PQ9H9__v1__HighRes__LebanonIsraelIranUsWar-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSmoke rises from the site of a string of Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on June 20, 2026. (Abbas FAKIH \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260619__B7N82RC__v3__HighRes__UaeIranUsIsraelWarCeasefireHormuzTransport-640x400.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
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\n\t\tThe Cyprus-flagged container vessel MSC Aquarius VII is docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, along the Gulf of Oman on June 19, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n
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