On Thursday, October 3, the Israeli military announced that several Hezbollah commanders were killed in an attack on military facilities in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated in a release that commanders from Hezbollah’s combat zone, engineering unit, and artillery coordination unit were among the casualties.
The military operation in Lebanon commenced on Monday, September 30, involving elite forces from the 98th Division. Israel stated that the Air Force and artillery supported ground forces in a “limited, localized, and targeted ground assault” on southern Lebanese villages posing a direct threat to northern Israeli communities by Hezbollah.
The IDF confirmed on Thursday that this attack was part of a joint operation between the Israeli Air Force and the Golani Brigade. The elite Golani Brigade units of the IDF have been conducting ground assaults in southern Lebanon over the past day.
In a separate Israeli strike, another Hezbollah military facility was destroyed, with weapons and other equipment seized during the raid.
On Wednesday, an Israeli officer was killed in combat in southern Lebanon.
The IDF identified the fallen soldier as Ben Zion Falach, a 21-year-old officer from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion. He is the ninth Israeli soldier to have died since the ground offensive against Hezbollah began this week.
On Thursday, the Israeli military ordered residents of over twenty towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately, leading to evacuation orders being issued for a total of 70 towns in the region, signaling an impending military action against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah retaliated by launching new attacks, firing rockets at the so-called Israeli military industrial base in the bay of Haifa Gulf. They claim to have repelled several ground operations by the Israeli military, including ambushes and direct confrontations.
Rocket sirens continue to sound in northern Israeli towns, prompting residents to seek shelter as Hezbollah continues its cross-border attacks.
Israel maintains that its operations in Lebanon aim to allow tens of thousands of Israeli citizens displaced by Hezbollah bombings to safely return to their homes.