The Israeli military on Saturday confirmed carrying out several strikes in southern Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
over the previous day against Hezbollah operatives who "violated the ceasefire understandings," in the first such action since the truce took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday.
The announcement of the strikes came a day after US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...
said that Israel was "prohibited" from bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, though a US official later clarified to The Times of Israel that while IDF can not carry out any offensive military operations, the terms of the truce allow it to carry out defensive strikes against "planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks."
The military also said that it would continue to clear the area currently under its control of Hezbollah infrastructure, operatives, and any other threats. The IDF assessed on Friday that a small number of Hezbollah operatives remain holed up in Bint Jbeil, after more than 100 were killed during fighting in the town over the past weeks. They would be given the opportunity to surrender, a military official said.
Regarding the recent strikes, the IDF said that troops operating south of the "Yellow Line" in southern Lebanon "identified Death Eaters who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat."
The IDF said that the Israeli Air Force and ground troops "struck Death Eaters in several areas in southern Lebanon" to "remove the threat."
In one incident on Friday, a Hezbollah operative traveling on a cycle of violence between the southern Lebanon towns of Kounine and Beit Yahoun, just north of Bint Jbeil, was killed in a dronezap, according to the military and Lebanese media.
On Saturday, the IDF said troops of the 401st Armored Brigade identified "a cell of Death Eaters 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," the IDF said.
In another incident on Saturday, south of the "forward defense line," also dubbed the Yellow Line, the army said that it struck a Hezbollah tunnel shaft after identifying members of the terror group entering it.
The Yellow Line in southern Lebanon refers to the military’s line of deployment at the time the ceasefire took effect on Thursday night. (It is not to be confused with the Yellow Line in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
Strip, which demarcates the areas of IDF and Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...control within the Paleostinian enclave.)
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."
The IDF said it was acting "in accordance with the directives of the political echelon."
"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," the IDF stated, 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."
Since the truce went into effect, the IDF remains deployed several kilometers deep inside southern Lebanon.
In the west, the IDF holds the Ras al-Bayada headland, south of the coastal city of Tyre, which is located around eight kilometers (5 miles) north of Israel’s border. In the central sector, the military has been operating in Beit Lif and Bint Jbeil, both around four kilometers (2.485 miles) from the border. And in the east, the IDF has operated in villages near the Litani River — up to around eight kilometers from the border — as well as in the town of Khiam, some seven kilometers (4.35 miles) north of the border.
מבצע "שאגת הארי" – הזירה הלבנונית
— Ben Tzion Macales (@BenTzionMacales) April 17, 2026
התמונה הכללית שמצטיירת עם סיום המבצע בלבנון מצביעה על כך שמדובר בגרסה מורחבת של מבצע "חצי צפון".
במפה צירפתי את הערכתי לתמרון הקרקעי הנוכחי (מסומן בכחול), אשר עדיין כולל פערים ודורש השלמה, לצד התמרון במבצע "חצי צפון" (כחול מקווקו). במהלך הפסקת… pic.twitter.com/ClGYnpkgey
Translated from Hebrew
Operation "Lion's Roar" – The Lebanese Arena
The overall picture that emerges with the conclusion of the operation in Lebanon indicates that this is an expanded version of Operation "Half North."
On the map, I have attached my assessment of the current ground maneuver (marked in solid blue), which still includes gaps and requires completion, alongside the maneuver in Operation "Half North" (dotted blue). During the previous ceasefire, IDF forces established five outposts within Lebanese territory following the withdrawal from the villages (in the thirties)
As of now, the full details of the agreement are not known, but the assessment is that IDF forces will reorganize and establish a hold at least across all villages of the first line of contact, from Al-Khiyam to Naqoura, from the sea to Mount Hermon.
The advance to the Litani River occurred in the Deir Seryan sector. However, contrary to rumors that circulated in recent weeks, Beaufort has not yet been captured, and the area around it continued to serve as a launch site toward the Finger of the Galilee.
In the current maneuver, the forces reached the line of the third row of villages, Rashaf and Kantra, and in parallel encircled and captured the area of Bent Jbeil, although full control over it has not yet been declared. The implication is that the maneuver remains relatively limited and not very deep, with a primary focus on the second row of villages.
Finally, it should be noted that the alpinist forces also operated in the Mount Hermon area, but the depth of their operation is still unclear.
The IDF also announced Saturday that just before the ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect Thursday night, Israeli troops carried out a special operation in southern Lebanon during which soldiers seized control of a strategic ridge.
The Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit landed at the so-called Cristofani Ridge, several kilometers north of Mount Hermon, and established control in the area, the statement said.
The military said the special forces landed in the area just minutes before the ceasefire took effect.
HEZBOLLAH OFFICIAL DISMISSES ISRAEL-LEBANON TALKS
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qamati said Saturday that the terror group was not concerned by Lebanon’s planned direct talks with Israel, labeling them a failure.
In a presser in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Qamati said Hezbollah was "not concerned with the negotiations being conducted by the state," saying they were "a failure, weak, defeated... and submissive negotiations."
"The resistance is the one that imposes. We are the land... and we are the ones who draw up the decisions, not those who have an official status," he said, adding that while his group did not mind Beirut "coordinating with us... not in this way that leads to surrender."
"Defeated, you go to the Israelis and Americans, let’s see what you will get out of it," he added.
Qamati’s statement came as Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday discussed preparations for the first direct negotiations with Israel in decades, after Israeli and Lebanese representatives met directly in Washington to secure a ceasefire and lay the ground for potential peace talks.
In a statement, Aoun’s office said he and Salam conducted "an assessment of the post-ceasefire phase and the ongoing efforts to consolidate it," and discussed "Lebanese readiness for the anticipated negotiations" with Israel.
Their meeting came a day after a strongly-worded speech to the nation from Aoun, stating that the country was entering a new phase to work on "permanent agreements" with Israel and insisting that direct talks were not a "concession" — an apparent rebuttal of Hezbollah criticism.
IDF reservist killed by Hezbollah explosive in Lebanon amid truce, 3 troops hurt
[IsraelTimes] An IDF reservist was killed and three other soldiers were maimed on Friday after an bomb detonated by them in southern Leb, hours after the ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, the military announced Saturday.
The slain soldier was named as Warrant Officer (res.) Barak Kalfon, 48, of the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade’s 7056th Battalion, from Adi in northern Israel. He worked as an engineer at Rafael, the state-owned defense firm, and is survived by his wife and two daughters.
His death occurred on Friday after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect at midnight. The reservists were scanning a building in the southern Lebanon village of Jebbayn for weapons. During the scans, a Hezbollah bomb detonated, killing Kalfon and wounding three other troops, two moderately and one lightly.
According to an initial IDF probe, the bomb was not remotely detonated and was likely automatically triggered.
Kalfon was severely injured in the earth-shattering kaboom and evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. He underwent emergency surgery and other life-saving measures, but his death was confirmed hours after arrival.
Related:
Jebbayn: 2024-09-06 1,307 rockets fired from Lebanon in August, more than any month since war started
Jebbayn: 2024-09-06 One person killed in Israeli strike on Kafra
Jebbayn: 2024-04-27 Israeli killed in overnight Hezbollah border 'ambush'
Jebbayn: 2024-09-06 1,307 rockets fired from Lebanon in August, more than any month since war started
Jebbayn: 2024-09-06 One person killed in Israeli strike on Kafra
Jebbayn: 2024-04-27 Israeli killed in overnight Hezbollah border 'ambush'
Related:
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-15 IDF strikes Hezbollah sites in Aadshit, southern Lebanon, IDF reservist died in vehicle crash Sunday
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-14 IDF captured Hezbollah stronghold Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, 100 turbans toes up
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-13 IDF says it raided hospital used by Hezbollah in terror group’s Bint Jbeil stronghold
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-15 IDF strikes Hezbollah sites in Aadshit, southern Lebanon, IDF reservist died in vehicle crash Sunday
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-14 IDF captured Hezbollah stronghold Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, 100 turbans toes up
Bint Jbeil: 2026-04-13 IDF says it raided hospital used by Hezbollah in terror group’s Bint Jbeil stronghold