Israeli Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Member In Sajd Area, Southern Lebanon

In southern Lebanon, the Israeli army reported new injuries among its forces over a 48-hour period, while Hezbollah announced additional attacks targeting Israeli units.

“Today, Thursday, the Israeli army announced that a number of its officers and soldiers were injured in southern Lebanon in the past hours, at the same time that Israeli reports spoke of a change in the military’s blackout policy following a wave of internal criticism about concealing information about what is happening on the ground in facing Hezbollah”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Jazeera Net says the Israeli army announced that “45 of its officers and soldiers were injured in southern Lebanon over the past 48 hours,” bringing “the total number of its casualties since renewed aggression on Lebanon to 735 officers and soldiers, including 44 seriously injured and 100 moderately injured.”

Al-Jazeera Net

The same Al-Jazeera Net account also says the Israeli army announced “at least seven violations by Hezbollah of the ceasefire since it came into effect,” while Israel claimed it had not responded to those violations “so far.”

At the same time, the report says the Israeli army “contradicts this claim by announcing that it has killed a Hezbollah member yesterday, Wednesday, in an airstrike that targeted a launch site in the Sajd area in southern Lebanon.”

Al-Jazeera Net frames this as part of an Israeli shift in how information is released, saying Israeli media reported the army has begun “updating information” about Hezbollah operations in southern Lebanon after “accusations of concealing the scale of the attacks and the losses resulting from them.”

Hezbollah, in parallel, told readers it carried out “a series of operations targeting the Israeli invading forces in southern Lebanon,” including “attacks on gatherings of soldiers and the downing of an Israeli reconnaissance drone.”

Al-Jazeera Net links Israel’s reported injury and ceasefire claims to a separate dispute over whether Israeli operations and Hezbollah counter-operations are being publicly disclosed.

The outlet says Israeli media reported the army has begun updating information about “the operations Hezbollah carries out against its forces in southern Lebanon,” after “facing accusations of concealing the scale of the attacks and the losses resulting from them.”

i24NEWS

It adds that the shift came after Army Radio said Tel Aviv “finally admitted” a Hezbollah drone incident aimed at Israeli forces advancing in the town of al-Qantarah in southern Lebanon.

Al-Jazeera Net quotes Army Radio correspondent Doron Kadosh, who says the Israeli army “deliberately does not announce some of Hezbollah’s operations,” citing “yesterday’s incident in which Hezbollah launched a drone toward Israeli forces in the village of al-Qantara, about 7 kilometers from the border, with no injuries resulting from the attack.”

The report says Hezbollah was the first to announce the incident in an official statement, “before it was confirmed by the Israeli army when asked about it,” and that the reporter said the army “did not see any need to inform the public about the incident.”

In the same narrative thread, the outlet says the Israeli army announced it killed a Hezbollah member in an airstrike targeting a launch site in the Sajd area, which it presents as an attempt “to show that the Israeli army remains in control of the situation.”

A separate Lebanon-related development reported by The Times of Israel and i24NEWS concerns casualties among UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which both outlets attribute to Hezbollah.

“A second French soldier has died of wounds suffered in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday”

The Times of Israel

The Times of Israel says French President Emmanuel Macron announced that “Corporal Anicet Girardin… brought home yesterday from Lebanon, where he was badly wounded by Hezbollah fighters, died this morning of the consequences of his wounds,” posting on X.

It adds that another French soldier, “Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio, waskilled in the attackon April 18,” describing the weekend ambush as occurring when “the UNIFIL peacekeepers were clearing unexploded ordnance in a village in southern Lebanon.”

The Times of Israel reports that three other troops, “including Girardin, were wounded in the incident, with one more described as being in serious condition,” and it quotes Armies Minister Catherine Vautrin’s account that Girardin “moved to aid his section leader who had just fallen, only to be seriously hit in turn.”

i24NEWS similarly reports that “Second French soldier succumbs to his injuries sustained in a Hezbollah ambush in Lebanon,” saying the announcement was made by Macron, who paid tribute to a soldier “who died for France.”

The Times of Israel further says Macron and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blamed “Iran-backed Hezbollah” for the Saturday attack, while UNIFIL “refrained from doing so explicitly, instead blaming ‘non-state actors,’ code for the Iran-backed terror group.”

The Times of Israel places the UNIFIL ambush within a broader diplomatic and military context involving a US-brokered ceasefire and ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran.

It says Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Paris on Tuesday and told reporters, “I have instructed the police force to carry out all necessary inquiries in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”

i24NEWS

The outlet also says a 10-day ceasefire was declared by the US “last week,” following “direct talks in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese envoys,” and that “Beirut is currently pushing for an extension of the truce to allow for further negotiations.”

It adds that UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon “to monitor hostilities along the border,” and that the mission “will be halted at the end of 2026.”

In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net describes Israeli internal criticism over concealing information and says the Israeli army’s reported “change in the military’s blackout policy” followed “a wave of internal criticism.”

That same Al-Jazeera Net account says Channel 12 reported Israel is refraining from intensifying its response because of “a direct request from Washington to avoid harming negotiations that could be resumed in the coming days between the United States and Iran,” tying the stakes to the negotiation timeline.