ISRAELI forces were reeling last night after a devastating Hezbollah ambush in Southern Lebanon left more than 20 soldiers wounded.
The bloody skirmish broke out under the cover of darkness when a military unit was targeted by a barrage of “heavy fire” from hidden Hezbollah positions.
Among those seriously injured is a Major from the Yahalom unit—the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) elite special forces wing trained in commando demolition and underground warfare.
The officer is understood to be fighting for his life in a specialist trauma ward this morning.
The IDF force was reportedly moving through rugged terrain when the Iranian-backed terror group unleashed a “massive and coordinated” assault.
Sources say the troops were met with a lethal mix of anti-tank missiles and automatic gunfire. Medevac helicopters were scrambled to the border under high-risk conditions to airlift the casualties to hospitals in Haifa and Safed.
The ambush marks one of the most significant single-incident casualty counts for Israeli ground forces since they stepped up operations across the “Blue Line.”
This latest escalation comes as the border between Israel and Lebanon reaches its most volatile point in nearly two decades.
The Yahalom Factor: The involvement of the Yahalom unit—Israel’s premier combat engineering specialists—suggests the IDF was targeting Hezbollah’s sophisticated tunnel networks when they were struck.
The Conflict: Israel launched its ground offensive with the goal of pushing Hezbollah forces back from the border to allow 60,000 displaced Israeli civilians to return to their homes in the north.
Hezbollah’s Tactics: Despite losing much of its senior leadership in recent months, the group remains a potent threat, utilizing “hit-and-run” tactics and a vast network of bunkers to bog down the advancing IDF.