TEHRAN – The Israeli occupation regime has acknowledged that another soldier has been killed and three others injured during clashes with Hezbollah resistance fighters in southern Lebanon.

According to details published by Hebrew media, the soldier from the Maglan special forces unit was killed by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah. The reports added that one of the wounded soldiers remains in critical condition.

On Sunday, another soldier from the Givati reconnaissance unit was killed and four others injured following the explosion of an explosive drone in the area of eastern Zawtar in southern Lebanon, according to an admission by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

The IOF has acknowledged that Hezbollah’s drones have become a genuine threat and that expanding the ground invasion has failed to prevent drones from being launched toward northern settlements.

This comes amid a significant increase in Hezbollah’s military operations that are being waged in response to the ongoing Israeli aggression against southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The resistance movement has carried out another extensive series of operations involving loitering drones, rocket barrages, artillery fire, guided missiles, and air-defense systems against IOF targets across northern settlements and southern Lebanon. The attacks struck IOF military vehicles, troop concentrations, command positions, artillery installations, electronic warfare equipment, and military infrastructure.

Among the operations were confirmed drone strikes against multiple Namer armored vehicles and Humvee command vehicles, attacks on IOF troop gatherings in Metula, Al-Qaouzah, Debbine, and the vicinity of Al-Shaqif Castle, as well as strikes on the IOF near Yohmor al-Shaqif and Maroun al-Ras. 

Hezbollah also attacked a newly established artillery bunker in Odaisseh, a drone-jamming radar system, and military infrastructure in Nahariya, the Krayot area north of Haifa, Safed, and Tiberias with rocket barrages.

The military operations further included large-scale rocket and artillery bombardments against IOF positions, coordinated drone attacks on military sites, and the use of swarms of loitering munitions against personnel and fortified positions. In addition, Hezbollah engaged two IOF Hermes 450 (Zik) drones operating over southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley with surface-to-air missiles. 

The resistance movement reiterated its commitment to defend Lebanon and its people, particularly as the enemy continues to exceed all bounds through its aggression, while emphasizing that “this is the minimum duty required to deter it and prevent it from persisting in its dangerous objectives against Lebanon, its state, its people and its resistance.”

Hezbollah’s war media has published more FPV drone footage on its Telegram channel documenting its retaliatory attacks against the Israeli military. 

Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s operations room published the following statement on the IOF’s alleged presence at the historic Al-Shaqif castle:

“With the significant negative impact that the footage released by the Resistance showing its operations against the (regime’s) army forces has had on the morale of settlers within the occupation entity, the enemy’s army sought desperately to obtain an image it could promote as an overwhelming victory, hoping to calm the fears of the settlers of the north. Its objective was the historic Al-Shaqif Castle in southern Lebanon, located approximately 4 km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border.

“For more than five days, the enemy launched a series of violent aerial attacks and intense artillery bombardments against Yohmor Al-Shaqif town and the surrounding villages with the aim of controlling them and occupying Al-Shaqif Castle. However, as soon as it advanced toward the southern outskirts of the town, it encountered heroic and fierce resistance and heavy fire from the Resistance fighters, preventing it from achieving its objective. The enemy therefore resorted to the eastern outskirts of the town, characterized by rugged terrain. At sunset on Saturday 30-05-2026, an (IOF) infantry unit infiltrated under heavy smoke cover from the eastern side of Al-Shaqif Castle, where the routes are concealed from view. The unit reached the castle and took a number of photographs, which the enemy quickly distributed on Sunday morning, claiming that it had occupied the castle, despite the fact that the castle was devoid of any military presence belonging to the Resistance.

“Since dawn yesterday (Sunday) and up to the time of issuing this statement, the enemy has been facing great difficulty in maintaining its forces in the vicinity of the castle, where these forces are positioned near the rest area below the castle. The Resistance is waging a battle of attrition against the enemy’s army forces present in the area, and the forthcoming footage will prove this.”

Elsewhere, the United States has called for an end to Hezbollah’s attacks against the IOF, while Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that the Zionist regime must cease fire first.

According to Reuters, citing an American official, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding diplomatic negotiations between the two sides.

The U.S. official said that Rubio proposed that Hezbollah halt all (retaliatory) attacks in exchange for the Israeli regime refraining from escalating its operations in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The report added that Aoun attempted to advance the proposal, but parliament speaker Nabih Berri insisted that the Zionist regime bears responsibility for ending the aggression first.

On Sunday, Berri stated: “I can guarantee a full and immediate commitment to a ceasefire by the resistance (Hezbollah), but who will ensure that the enemy stops its aggression on land, at sea, and in the air, and halts the destruction of villages?”

Lebanese officials have come under sharp criticism for holding direct talks with the Zionist regime as it continues to slaughter civilians. The government has not taken any action to halt the U.S.-backed aggression beyond statements of condemnation. Instead, it is holding talks at the Pentagon with Israeli officials to advance the regime’s agenda of disarming Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 and was later extended for an additional 45 days beginning May 17.

The resistance movement remains the only party in Lebanon actively deploying fighters on the front lines against the aggression. It is also the only domestic actor with the leverage and military capability to impose costs on the aggressor through retaliatory operations that have increased casualties among the occupying forces. Critics contend that force is the only language the Zionist regime responds to, arguing that military pressure is the most effective means of deterring further aggression.

History shows that passivity or continued engagement with the regime and its staunch backer, the United States, while widespread destruction is underway, only emboldens further Israeli aggression and occupation. This dynamic reflects the broader objective associated with the Zionist ideology, as seen in Palestine and, more recently, events in Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria, which is evidence of a pattern of expanding control over Arab territory.