Israeli Airstrikes Hit Southern Lebanon After Hezbollah Drone Explosion Injures Israeli Soldiers

Israeli airstrikes and a drone attack hit southern Lebanon despite ceasefire commitments, with Lebanese state media reporting targets including Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, the eastern outskirts of Kfar Tebnit, and the town of Ansariyeh in the Zahrani region.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said the attacks came after an incident in which a Hezbollah drone exploded near Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, injuring several soldiers, and the Israeli military later reported another drone explosion that caused additional injuries.

Anadolu Ajansı

Lebanese officials said Israeli attacks in the south have continued even after the ceasefire announcement, with at least five people reportedly killed in strikes since the agreement was declared.

The renewed strikes intensified criticism from Lebanese officials and regional actors, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any lasting resolution would require the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the conflict.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the death toll from Israeli attacks since the conflict began had reached 3,826 as rescue teams continued recovering bodies from destroyed areas.

In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah’s drone attacks wounded five Israeli soldiers in an incident that Israeli media and the Israeli military described as taking place at around 6 a.m. near Kfar Tebnit.

The Times of Israel said a first FPV drone piloted by Hezbollah exploded next to a tank in the southern Lebanon village of Kfar Tebnit, injuring four soldiers by shrapnel, and then a second FPV drone struck a vehicle used to evacuate the wounded troops, injuring a fifth soldier.

Anadolu Ajansı

The BBC reported that Israel’s military said five soldiers were injured in a drone attack in Lebanon by the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, while Israeli drone strikes injured several people in Mansouri and Aaziyyeh and jets attacked Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tebnit.

At the G7 summit in France, President Donald Trump said Israel had been fighting Hezbollah for “too long and too many people are being killed,” and the BBC said Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared the US-Iran agreement was a “great victory.”

The BBC also reported that Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon “for as long as necessary,” and that Iran’s top military command warned Israel of a “harsh response” if it did not end its “malice” in southern Lebanon.

The fighting and drone attacks continued to shape negotiations over Lebanon’s future, with the BBC saying the fate of Lebanon remained a “big question” as Israel’s forces stayed in the country’s south.

“5 Israeli soldiers injured by drone attack in southern Lebanon, military says Army says 1 soldier sustained serious injuries Mohammad Sio 17 June 2026•Update: 17 June 2026 ISTANBUL Five Israeli soldiers were injured in an explosive drone attack in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the army said”

Anadolu Ajansı

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran that “The war's end is not complete without the Israeli forces' withdrawal from the (Lebanese) territories they occupied in this war,” linking any end to hostilities with withdrawal.

The BBC said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was pursuing an “independent path” at negotiations with Israel in Washington while adding that he was “in favour of a ceasefire and welcome the support of any country that helps us, including Iran.”

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists said Lebanese journalist Hadi Hoteit was injured when he was directly hit by an Israeli drone while reporting on the aftermath of Israeli attacks in Kafr Tebnit in the Nabatieh district on 15 June.

The IFJ quoted its general secretary Anthony Bellanger saying, “We have consistentlycondemnedthe repeated threats and attacks by the Israeli army against journalists in Lebanon and Palestine, which are aimed at silencing their reporting.”