Further escalation in southern Lebanon: Lebanese soldier wounded in IDF strike

The Lebanese army reported that a soldier was lightly wounded in an IDF strike against a bulldozer in al-Mansouri; the IDF confirmed the hit. The incident comes after the fall of soldiers in Majdal Zoun, following which a large-scale operation in the village was planned – but was blocked by the political echelon. The IDF bombed several buildings in the village that were marked as Hezbollah command centers and weapons depots. According to the Lebanese army, its men arrived at the village to clear the rubble from the bombings and to purify the area of weapons before residents are allowed to return. Prior to the Lebanese army's entry, it was reported in Lebanon that IDF artillery fired a large number of shells toward the village. The IDF is trying to understand when the explosive devices were placed inside the house in the village of Majdal Zoun, which led to the severe incident in which Maj. (res.) Harel Birnstock and Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin fell, and four IDF soldiers were seriously wounded as a result of the explosion. The investigation examines two possibilities. According to the first, the device was placed several days before forces of the 511th Battalion of the Reserve Commando Brigade captured the village. Then the soldiers said that Hezbollah secured the village like a fortress: dozens of terrorists, observation arrays, booby-trapped routes and buildings. The fact that Iran built a strategic infrastructure under the village's houses forced Hezbollah to defend the village more heavily.