Two IDF soldiers killed, four wounded in Southern Lebanon

Two Israel Defense Forces reservists were killed in combat in Southern Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday morning.

The slain troops were identified as Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock, 34, from Nokdim, and Chief Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, 33, from Eilat.

Four IDF reservists were severely wounded in the same incident on Wednesday and evacuated to the trauma center at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus. All four are now in stable condition, the hospital said on Thursday.

Dr. Asaf Miller, director of Rambam’s general intensive care unit, said the four arrived in serious condition and were sedated and placed on ventilators in the trauma room before being admitted to intensive care. Their condition stabilized overnight, he said.

One of the wounded has been taken off the ventilator, regained consciousness and was able to speak with his family, Miller said in remarks translated from Hebrew.

“We hope that the three other wounded, whose condition has also stabilized, will continue to improve in the coming days, and that they too will return to consciousness,” he added.

The troops were killed when a booby-trapped building exploded as their unit entered it, according to Hebrew media reports. Israel has not determined whether the structure, which the IDF said is in the Majdal Zoun area, was rigged before or after the ceasefire took effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned their deaths, calling Birenstock and Vaknin “among our finest sons, courageous fighters who reported for reserve duty and fought heroically to defend the residents of the north and the State of Israel.”

The premier said he and his wife extended their condolences to the bereaved families, “who have lost what is most precious to them,” and wished a full recovery to the four soldiers wounded in the incident.

“May the memory of our heroes be blessed and enshrined in the heart of the nation,” he said.

“Harel and Tamir left behind families and full lives, yet reported for reserve duty every time with commitment, dedication and a profound sense of mission. They fell while defending the security of the State of Israel and the residents of the North,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, offering condolences and wishing the wounded a full recovery.

The deaths bring the IDF’s toll on all fronts since the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, to 968.

In response to Wednesday’s deadly incident, the IDF said later on Thursday that it struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in several areas across Southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours. Weapons storage facilities, a command center and other sites were among the targets, the military said.

IDF troops “remain deployed in the Security Zone in Southern Lebanon in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove threats to Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” the military added.

The Israeli military had said earlier that it conducted strikes in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization. Those strikes followed an IDF evacuation warning issued to residents of Al-Mansouri, a village located within the Security Zone.

The IDF said it issued the warning to protect civilians’ safety. According to the military, civilians had reached the area under the auspices of the Lebanese Armed Forces, which established a checkpoint there in violation of existing understandings.

On the diplomatic front, a second day of U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon ended early in Rome on Wednesday, after the Jewish state requested that negotiations be suspended, a source on the Israeli negotiating team told JNS.

Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States and head of the Jewish state’s delegation, asked U.S. mediators to halt the talks about three hours before their scheduled conclusion. The envoy did so “following repeated misleading leaks by the Lebanese delegation,” according to the source.

Multiple media reports detailed purported developments from the negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was not immediately clear which of those leaks led to Leiter’s decision.

Talks are expected to resume on Thursday, the final scheduled day of this round, the source told JNS.

The Lebanese president’s office stated that “the American side asked the Lebanese and Israeli delegations to stop today’s meeting.” The pause was sought “to complete its contacts,” the office said.

Israeli and Lebanese technical teams opened a second round of negotiations in Rome on Tuesday, the seventh round of U.S.-facilitated talks aimed at implementing the trilateral framework agreement reached earlier this summer.

The current round follows separate White House meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the launch of the first pilot zones in Southern Lebanon.