Israel Kills Captain Hariel Bernstein, Sergeant Tamer Vaknin in Lebanon Explosion

Israeli forces launched strikes and shelling in southern Lebanon as negotiations continued in Rome, with Haaretz describing Wednesday’s Israel Defense Forces strikes near Al-Mansouri, south of Tyre, as launched after two Israeli reservists were killed and four soldiers were seriously wounded in an explosion that Israel suspects may have resulted from a Hezbollah cease-fire violation.

“The Israel Defense Forces' strikes Wednesday near Al-Mansouri, south of Tyre”

Haaretz

The Lebanese reports tied the escalation to Israeli targeting of Lebanese Army engineering work in al-Mansouri, where field sources said a drone targeted a military bulldozer belonging to the Lebanese Army while engineering units carried out debris removal and clearing blocked roads to facilitate the return of displaced residents.

ACLED

The same reporting said the airstrike injured one Lebanese soldier, who was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, and that Al-Mansouri also saw Israeli artillery targeting specific points inside residential areas.

In parallel, the Lebanese Ministry of Health figures cited in the reporting put the toll of the Israeli aggression since resuming operations in early March at 4,333 martyrs and more than 12,250 injuries, while hundreds of displaced people remained on high alert at main entrances awaiting security assurances to return.

The Al-Quds News Agency also said Israel’s occupation army announced the killing of Captain Hariel Bernstein and Sergeant First Tamer Tamer Vaknin and the injury of four others in an incident it said resulted from a booby-trapped device explosion in Majdal Zein.

As the seventh round of negotiations in Rome proceeded, the reporting described the talks as continuing without a clear decision on moving to new experimental zones, with tents and Bint Jbeil remaining outside the path after Israel rejected the Lebanese proposal regarding them.

In that context, the Lebanese Army said a soldier was lightly wounded as a result of an “Israeli aggression targeting a bulldozer belonging to the Army in the Al-Mansouri town in the Sidon (Saida) District, while it was operating to open roads and remove debris.”

Al Jazeera

Retired Brigadier General Dr. Khalil Al-Halou told Asharq Al-Awsat that targeting the Lebanese Army in Al-Mansouri carries implications beyond a routine incident, saying: “What happened in Al-Mansouri is a message to the Army.”

Israeli restrictions were framed by Colonel (retired) Bassam Yasin, who told Asharq Al-Awsat that when a bulldozer approached to operate, it was targeted, adding: “today, when a bulldozer approached to operate, it was targeted.”

The reporting also said the South Lebanon Water Authority described the shooting of the head of the Bent Jbeil Water Department and several workers in Ain al-Jamal as an “attack on civilians and the right of residents to access water,” while it confirmed it would continue its tasks despite the risks.

The reporting tied the immediate fighting to forced displacement and pressure on humanitarian access, with naiz saying Israel launched airstrikes against Mansouri, Kfar Tebnit and Tibnin and issued a forced displacement order for the inhabitants of Mansouri.

““nothing more than another “concession” to those bombing the country”

naiz

It also said Hizballah leader Nassrallah? Naim Qassem warned the Lebanese government that the dialogue scheduled to continue was “nothing more than another “concession” to those bombing the country and risking “sovereignty and unity of the homeland,” accusing President Joseph Aoun of being an ally of Israel.”

In parallel, the same set of reporting described an Israeli incursion into the Qalandia refugee camp north of East Jerusalem, where it detained several people, injured at least two, and attacked buildings including a UNRWA vocational training center.

The VOI.ID report said the Israeli army launched new attacks on southern Lebanon despite negotiations, accusing Hizballah of violating the ceasefire, and it quoted the army saying: "In response to a real breach of the ceasefire by the terrorist Hizballah organization, the Israeli Defense Forces began launching precise attacks in southern Lebanon."

It further quoted an evacuation message posted on X by Israeli spokesperson Ella Wawi to residents of Al-Manasori: "For your safety, you must immediately evacuate your home and move north," as the reporting described the town as about nine kilometers (six miles) south of Tyre and 10 kilometers north of Israel.