Lebanese army says 3 troops killed in Israeli strike; IDF says Hezbollah building hit
IDF probing if troops were accidentally hit in strike on Yater building; Lebanon: They were rescuing injured; Austin tells Gallant of ‘deep concern’ over reported strikes on Lebanon army
The Lebanese army said Thursday that three of its troops were killed in an Israeli strike in a south Lebanon village.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was investigating whether Lebanese soldiers were accidentally hit in the strike on a building which it said was confirmed to have been used by the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon.
“The IDF is investigating whether, as a result of the strike, a number of soldiers of the Lebanese army were accidentally hit,” the military said in response to a query on the matter.
“The IDF clarifies that it does not intend to harm the soldiers of the Lebanese army and that it is fighting only against the Hezbollah terror organization,” the military said.
The Lebanese army said the soldiers were killed as they were evacuating wounded people on the outskirts of southern village of Yater. They were killed at around 4:15 a.m., a security source said.
Yater, on the Lebanese border, has been hit multiple times by Israel over the past year as it targets Hezbollah.
“The Israeli enemy targeted Lebanese army personnel in the vicinity of Yater village, in the Bint Jbeil area of the south, while carrying out an operation to evacuate wounded, which led to the deaths of three martyrs, including an officer,” a Lebanese army statement said.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported an unspecified number of dead in a strike “on a house in Yater.” It said paramedics were wounded when the Israeli air force struck a second time as they tried “to rescue the casualties.”
The village is in the border region targeted by Israel during its month-long offensive against the heavily armed, Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which began attacking northern towns and military posts the day after Hamas launched its October 7 massacre.
Armed and trained by the United States, the Lebanese army has little sway on the ground in Hezbollah’s strongholds in southern Lebanon.
It recruits from across Lebanon’s myriad sectarian communities and has been seen as a guarantor of the civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war.
Its deployment is a key part of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and requires that the Lebanese Armed Forces be the only force with arms in southern Lebanon.
The resolution has gone largely unenforced since it was passed in 2006, allowing Hezbollah to build up a formidable arms cache and defensive capabilities, with neither UNIFIL peacekeepers nor the LAF willing to challenge the Iran-backed terror group. Israel has repeatedly portrayed its offensive in southern Lebanon as essentially stepping in and doing UNIFIL’s job for it.
Hours before the alleged Israeli strike, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday that Washington has “deep concern” about reported strikes against the Lebanese armed forces, while urging Israel to take steps to ensure the safety of the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, the Pentagon said.
At least 11 Lebanese soldiers have been killed by Israeli fire since September 23, according to an AFP tally of army announcements.
Israel launched its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from their homes in northern Israel due to a year of cross-border rocket fire by Hezbollah.
