IDF pushes into southern Lebanon as budget deal and veteran backlash converge

Heavy fighting near Bint Jbeil, a destroyed Hezbollah bunker, and a NIS 15 billion budget compromise mark a volatile 12 hours on Israel's defense front.

IDF pushes into southern Lebanon as budget deal and veteran backlash converge — The IDF is engaged in heavy fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, focusing on the Bint Jbeil area and the Ali al-Taher ridge.[^1] During one engagement, a militant was eliminated after emerging from an underground shelter, and the Yaalom engineering special forces, together with the 551st Reserve Brigade, destroyed an underground Hezbollah bunker.[^1] Lebanese media reported IDF strikes near Bint Jbeil, while earlier, an armed terrorist who crossed the border from Lebanon in the Ramim Ridge area was eliminated.[^2] The intensity of ground operations comes as Defense Minister Israel Katz held a multi-front situational assessment with senior defense officials, including Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.[^3] On the budget front, the Finance and Defense ministries reached a deal to transfer an additional NIS 15 billion ($5.01 billion) to the IDF, far short of the NIS 40 billion ($13.36 billion) the Defense Ministry had initially demanded.[^4] The budget passed in March had already allotted a record NIS 143 billion ($45.8 billion) to the Defense Ministry. The IDF Disabled Veterans Organization issued a stark warning on Thursday, saying, "It is impossible to send our best sons and daughters to fight, guarantee them proper rehabilitation, and then withdraw at the moment of truth," as the Mor Yosef Committee's recommendations on trauma and rehabilitation remain unapproved.[^5] Meanwhile, the IDF released new details about an attempted vehicular attack in Gush Etzion, and Yamam fighters and the Shin Bet arrested this morning the main suspect in the shooting incident in Shfaram, along with two other suspects.[^6] The multi-front operations underscore the strain on Israeli forces, even as a senior IDF officer warned, "We will lose thousands of fighters" amid criticism over service extension.[^7] The question now is whether the budget compromise will suffice to sustain the current operational tempo, or whether the gap between military needs and fiscal constraints will widen further. High Court invalidates comptroller vote, as 1,000-day mark exposes political fractures — On Thursday, the High