IDF kills Hezbollah commander, his replacement within 24 hours

Five IDF reservists killed, 14 wounded in battle with Hezbollah in south Lebanon

Military investigating exchange of fire that also left 3 terror operatives dead; at least 5 hurt in drone, rocket strikes; IAF hits Hezbollah weapons sites in Beirut overnight

IDF reservists killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on October 26, 2024: From left: Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal, Master Sgt. (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut, , Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol. (Courtesy)
IDF reservists killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on October 26, 2024: From left: Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal, Master Sgt. (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut, , Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol. (Courtesy)

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced that five Israeli reserve soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in a battle with Hezbollah operatives in a southern Lebanon village on Saturday evening.

Bringing IDF’s toll in the ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and during operations to 34, the slain troops were named as:

  • Cpt. (res.) Rabbi Avraham Yosef Goldberg, 43, from Jerusalem
  • Master Sgt. (res.) Gilad Elmaliach, 30, from Jerusalem.
  • Cpt. (res.) Amit Chayut, 29, from Haifa.
  • Maj. (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol, 36, from Eitan.
  • Sgt. Maj. (res.) Shaul Moyal, 47, from Karnei Shomron

The troops all served with the Alon Brigade’s 8207th Battalion. Goldberg was the battalion’s rabbi, Chayut was a platoon commander, and Abitbol was a deputy company commander.

Troops operating in south Lebanon in an undated photo released by the military for publication on October 27, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

Among the 14 wounded soldiers, five were listed in serious condition.

Three Hezbollah operatives were killed in the exchange of fire.

Further details of the battle were still under investigation, as the IDF pressed its campaign to push Hezbollah forces away from the border, in order to make it safe for tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from northern communities to return to their homes.

The Iran-backed terror group continued its cross-border attacks on northern Israel on Sunday, injuring at least five people in drone and rocket strikes by the early afternoon.

Three people were wounded in the northern Arab town of Tamra, including one woman in serious condition, when Hezbollah fired some 75 rockets at the Galilee from Lebanon, according to the IDF.

Air defenses intercepted several rockets, the army added, and impacts were also identified.

Cars burn after a rocket fired from Lebanon hits Tamra, October 27, 2024 (Screen grab used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The victims, including a 57-year-old woman hit by shrapnel in serious condition, and a 21-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl who were lightly hurt by smoke inhalation, were evacuated to Rambam Hospital in Haifa for medical treatment, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

Earlier in the day, two people were injured in a drone attack on the Bar Lev industrial zone between Acre and Karmiel.

The IDF confirmed that a drone launched from Lebanon struck the industrial zone. Further details were being investigated, as sirens had sounded in the Western Galilee warning of an incoming drone but not in the industrial zone itself.

Screen grab from a video on social media shows the aftermath of a drone strike at the Bar Lev industrial park near Acre, October 27, 2024 (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Magen David Adom said medics were treating a 61-year-old man in moderate condition and a 31-year-old man who was lightly hurt by the drone impact.

Footage from the scene showed damage to a factory belonging to the BAZ aviation components firm.

The factory manufactures aerospace metal components for both civilian and military clients, according to the company’s LinkedIn page.

Earlier on Sunday morning, the IDF intercepted two drones that crossed from Lebanon into Israel. No injuries were reported.

Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sounded in the coastal city of Nahariya and several towns near the Lebanon border amid the incident.

A short while later, the IDF said it had successfully intercepted a drone making its way “from the east,” using terminology usually reserved for UAVs launched from Iraq by Iran-backed militias.

That drone did not cross into Israeli territory, the military said.

Also Sunday, the IDF released footage of a Hezbollah weapons bunker located by troops of the Golani Brigade in southern Lebanon.

The military said the underground facility, hidden in a forested area, was used to store anti-tank missiles, machine guns, assault rifles, and mortars.

The footage was released as the IDF said that fighter jets targeted several Hezbollah weapon manufacturing and maintenance sites in Beirut overnight, along with an arms depot.

The IDF issued evacuation orders for three buildings in two neighborhoods in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, ahead of the strikes.

Lebanese state media reported an Israeli raid in Dahiyeh’s Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath neighborhoods shortly after the warnings were published.

A man inspects the debris and damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut’s southern suburb of Hadath on October 27, 2024. (AFP)

Elsewhere in Lebanon, the military said on Sunday morning that the Israeli Air Force had killed some 70 Hezbollah operatives and hit around 120 sites belonging to the terror group over the past day in Lebanon.

Among the targets was a site used by Hezbollah’s drone unit, and a cell of operatives from the unit, the IDF added.

The military also announced on Sunday that it killed the commander of Hezbollah’s Bint Jbeil region and his replacement within 24 hours.

On Friday, the Hezbollah commander in charge of the Lebanese border village of Bint Jbeil, Ahmad Jaafar Matouq, was killed in a strike carried out by fighter jets, according to the IDF.

A day later, the IDF says Matouq’s replacement, along with the commander of Hezbollah’s artillery forces in the area, were killed in a separate airstrike.

The strikes came after Hezbollah fired some 200 rockets and launched four drones at northern Israel on Saturday.

An anti-missile system fires interception missiles at rockets fired from Lebanon, near the northern border, October 24, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The hostile aircraft triggered air raid sirens in the Upper and Western Galilee as well as the northern border cities and towns of Kiryat Shmona, Metula and Tel Hai, but no injuries were reported as the IDF intercepted all four drones.

In a statement, Hezbollah claimed it launched a drone attack against the Tel Nof air force base, south of Tel Aviv.

In one of the rocket barrages, 15 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee, with some intercepted while the rest hit open areas, the IDF said.

There were no reports of injuries from the rocket fire, which sparked blazes at several locations in the north.

Security forces and firefighters work to control a wildfire sparked by a rocket attack from Lebanon near kibbutz Yesud Hamaala in the Galilee, October 26, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.

The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 31 civilians. In addition, 55 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Troops operating in south Lebanon in an undated photo released by the military for publication on October 27, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began an offensive against Hezbollah in September.

Agencies contributed to this report. 

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