Hezbollah Booby-Trap Kills Israeli Soldier In South Lebanon

Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)

An Israeli reservist was killed, and three other soldiers were wounded after being hit by an explosive device in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect on April 17, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced.

The military said that the reservists, a part of the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade’s 7056th Battalion, were scanning a building in the southern Lebanon town of Jebbayn for weapons. During the scans, a Hezbollah explosive device detonated, killing one and wounding three other troops, including two moderately and one lightly.

The bomb was not remotely detonated, according to the IDF. This suggests that it was some sort of a booby-trap set before the ceasefire came into effect.

Fourteen IDF soldiers have been killed in operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, so far. Two Israeli civilians were also killed in the north of the country by the group’s rocket fire. A third Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by IDF artillery shelling.

United States President Donald Trump announced a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon on April 16.

Earlier on April 18, the IDF confirmed carrying out several strikes in southern Lebanon in the past day against Hezbollah members who “violated the ceasefire understandings.”

Troops operating south of the “Yellow Line” in southern Lebanon “identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” the military said in a statement.

The Yellow Line in southern Lebanon refers to the IDF’s line of deployment as the ceasefire entered into effect earlier in the week.

The IDF added that the Israeli Air Force and ground troops “struck the terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon” to “remove the threat.”

In addition, the military said it carried out artillery shelling in support of ground troops operating in southern Lebanon, “and terror infrastructure was destroyed in response to threats.”

“Accordingly, the IDF is authorized to take the necessary measures for self-defense against threats, while safeguarding the security of Israeli civilians and the troops deployed on the ground,” the military said.

“Actions of self-defense and the removal of threats are not limited by the ceasefire,” it continued, adding that it will “not allow harm to the citizens of Israel and its soldiers, and will take all necessary actions to ensure their security.”

In another statement, the IDF announced that it killed several additional Hezbollah members who “violated the ceasefire understandings” and posed a threat to troops stationed in southern Lebanon.

The military said that troops of the 401st Armored Brigade identified “a cell of terrorists that violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat, during their activity in southern Lebanon, south of the forward defense line area used to prevent a direct threat to northern communities.”

To “remove the threat,” the Israeli Air Force struck and “eliminated the terrorists,” according to the IDF. In another incident south of the “forward defense line,” — the Yellow Line — the military said it struck a Hezbollah tunnel shaft after identifying members of the group entering it.

Despite all of these claims, Lebanese media didn’t report any casualties. Over 2,000 people were killed in the fighting before the ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun are set to hold peace talks in the U.S. in the near future. Still, fighting in southern Lebanon will likely resume once the ceasefire ends if the U.S. does not reach an agreement with Iran, the main backer of Hezbollah.

In a statement read on Al-Manar TV, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that a paper published by the U.S. State Department that it describes as the text of a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel “means nothing at the practical level, but it is an insult to our country.”

“Everyone knows that the government of Lebanon has not met or approved this statement,” he said.

The text published by the US describes the ten-day ceasefire as a gesture by Israel “to enable good-faith negotiations” toward a permanent peace agreement with Lebanon. The text gives Israel the “right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”

Qassem stressed the ceasefire should entail “a complete cessation of all hostilities” and that Hezbollah “will respond to enemy violations.”

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