The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say it has launched an investigation after confirming an attack on a vehicle carrying Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.
The Lebanese Army reports that two officers and a soldier were killed in the strike on a car, calling the raid "aggressive and barbaric." According to the IDF, the vehicle was "moving suspiciously toward forces" and gunfire had been reported in the area.
Israel has been fighting the Lebanon‑based Hezbollah since March, mainly in southern Lebanon, where the armed group has launched rocket and drone attacks.
The strike occurred on a road near the village of Kfar Tebnit, roughly four miles north of the Litani River close to the city of Nabatieh – an area that has seen intense fighting and displacement recently.
The Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation orders for the region as it continues to push north, supported by regular air strikes against Hezbollah targets. The IDF stated that the vehicle was travelling in an "active and evacuated combat zone" where it believes Hezbollah has operated.
Lebanese Army officials insist the government is not in a direct conflict with Israel and stresses that the Lebanese Army is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, not against the Israeli forces.
In the aftermath, the Lebanese Army has reacted fiercely to the attack, accusing Israel of "brutal, deliberate and repeated aggression" and sharing images of the burnt-out wreckage of a car on a road outside the village.
The incident follows Hezbollah's rejection of a US‑backed ceasefire agreement that had been reached between Israel and Lebanon. That agreement stipulated that Israel would not attack Hezbollah positions in Beirut if the group did not launch attacks on Israel and established "pilot" security zones inside southern Lebanon from which Hezbollah would be banned from operating.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has called the talks between Lebanon and Israel "futile". Lebanon's government, opposed to Hezbollah, seeks a ceasefire to end the fighting on its territory, though Israel has accused the Lebanese government of lacking the ability to disarm Hezbollah.
United States President Donald Trump has been involved in attempting to defuse the conflict and reach an agreement with Iran, with Iran’s war stance on the US and Israel contingent on halting the campaign against Hezbollah.
The war escalated on 2 March when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that had killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south. An initial ceasefire was agreed on 16 April, but fighting resumed. Israeli strikes have largely been confined to southern Lebanon in recent weeks, though the IDF has also attacked in eastern Lebanon since the Israeli Prime Minister announced an intensification of the campaign on 26 May.
