Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

IDF soldier severely wounded in Southern Lebanon blast

Three others were also hurt when an explosive device detonated.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers during operations in Southern Lebanon, April 2026. Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Southern Lebanon, April 2026. Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

An Israeli soldier was severely wounded overnight Saturday when an explosive device detonated in Southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday.

In the same incident, an IDF officer was moderately wounded, and an officer and an enlisted man were lightly wounded.

“The soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment at a hospital, and their families have been notified,” the military said.

On Sunday afternoon, the Israeli Air Force intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” identified in the area where IDF soldiers are operating in Southern Lebanon, according to the IDF, which added that no sirens sounded per protocol.

Another “suspicious aerial target” struck near Israeli troops operating in southeastern Lebanon after air-raid sirens sounded in the Kibbutz Misgav Am area in the Galilee Panhandle, the IDF said.

No injuries were reported.

Separately, the IDF said Hezbollah launched rockets and explosive drones overnight at Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon.

The projectiles struck near the troops, with no injuries reported.

An IDF soldier was mortally wounded in a Hezbollah drone strike in Southern Lebanon, the military confirmed on Saturday night.

Capt. Maoz Israel Recanati, 24, from the Samaria town of Itamar, was a platoon commander in the Golani Infantry Brigade’s 12th Battalion.

See more from JNS Staff
“The message being sent is that you can get away with attacking someone in broad daylight because you disagree with their opinions, especially if it involves feelings about Israel,” Joshua Burt, of the Anti-Defamation League, told JNS.
“Not identifying Hamas as a terrorist organization is, I think, a failure, Marc Miller told the Canadian Press. “And not clearly stating that, for example, Hamas intended to kill Jews is, I think, an unfortunate error in curation and should be rectified.”
“This is life for Jews under the leadership of Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” advocacy group StopAntisemitism wrote.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Nika Soon-Shiong’s five-year board term expired as it reviews whether Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives were misclassified as journalists killed in Gaza.
“Blaming Israel for the rise in antisemitism on the political left and in the Democratic Party specifically is classic narcissistic behavior,” Jim Walsh, chair of the state’s Republican Party, told JNS. “It’s what abusive husbands do to battered wives.”
“President Trump picked the right person for the job,” Rep. Tim Walberg stated, citing Sonderling’s record at the department and efforts to combat Jew-hatred in the workplace.