TEHRAN – The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have acknowledged casualties to more soldiers in southern Lebanon as the Zionist regime’s war objectives diminish in the face of Hezbollah’s strong resistance.

The IOF admitted the death of a military doctor holding the rank of captain in the Givati Brigade, along with the injury of seven others, including four officers and a battalion commander, in an attack carried out by the Lebanese resistance using explosive drones.

According to details released by the IOF, a captain serving as a battalion doctor in the elite Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade was killed during fighting in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army radio reported that Hezbollah launched six explosive drones toward a gathering of soldiers and a Namer armored vehicle belonging to the Givati Brigade, which was stationed on the outskirts of the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiya near the Shqeif position.

The outlet added that among those seriously wounded were the operations officer of the Shaked Battalion and a platoon commander from the same battalion. The battalion commander, an officer holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, was also among the injured. 

In a separate Hezbollah drone attack on Wednesday, at least two more IOF soldiers were injured. 

The IOF has been announcing casualties in southern Lebanon on a daily basis, including three fatalities in 24 hours, amid fierce resistance by Hezbollah.

There is growing concern among the occupying Israeli regime over Hezbollah’s first-person view (FPV) drones managing to strike IOF positions with devastating impact at night.

“It’s quite unusual that the drone struck a force at night. That still hasn’t happened to combat teams before,” an IOF soldier told Hebrew news outlet Ynet after visiting soldiers wounded in a nighttime drone attack near southern Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle.

Ynet reported that the IOF is “concerned that Hezbollah could equip fiber-optic FPV drones with thermal systems, enabling them to operate at night … Until now, the assessment had been that the drones involved did not carry thermal systems, which would indicate improved operational capabilities after dark.”

“They [the drones] improve the accuracy of their fire every time,” an IOF official told Ynet. “That’s why we try to keep moving as much as possible.”

The report also stated that the IOF has started restricting the use of heavy vehicles, including engineering equipment such as military bulldozers and excavators, referring to them as “easy targets” for Hezbollah FPV drones.

The Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper reported that “the concerns have been confirmed, and the (IOF) is worried about the use of explosive loitering gliders at night.”

Senior Israeli military officials have already acknowledged that Hezbollah’s drones have become a genuine threat. They have also admitted that expanding the ground invasion has failed to prevent attack drones from targeting troop concentrations or northern settlements.

These attacks and carefully planned ambushes come as part of the escalating operations carried out by the Lebanese resistance movement in response to the continuing U.S.-backed Zionist aggression, which has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and injuries.

More importantly, the deeper the IOF tries to invade southern Lebanon, the more Hezbollah targets northern settlements. The officially declared Israeli objective of the wider escalation in southern Lebanon on March 2 was to destroy Hezbollah’s military capabilities.

Despite a 15-month ceasefire from November 27, 2024 till early March 2026, which Hezbollah observed [but the IOF violated it 15,000 times while occupying five points in southern Lebanon] and refrained from striking northern settlements, the renewed and expanded U.S.-backed aggression was supposed to be aimed at ending attacks by Lebanese resistance forces at northern settlements.

Over the past 24 hours, Hezbollah announced a record number of retaliatory operations since the latest war began. The latest retaliatory attacks follow a similar pattern over the past several days, which has seen a rise in rocket barrages and drone swarms striking IOF positions in northern settlements.

Essentially, the Zionist regime’s goals have proven to be an utter failure. The regime is very good at destroying entire towns and villages in southern Lebanon, yet it cannot stop rockets and drones from striking northern settlements. This is an emerging sign of war failures since October 7, 2023.

It razed Gaza to the ground and waged a two-year genocidal war but failed to disarm Hamas, the war’s stated objective. It repeatedly bombarded Yemen yet could not end the Red Sea blockade against its vessels; as a result, the port of Eilat went bankrupt. It assassinated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and senior commanders, but failed to destroy the resistance, which was the war’s core goal. The regime waged war alongside the United States against Iran, yet both sides failed to achieve any of their objectives. Iranian ballistic missiles can still inflict crippling damage on the regime.

Once more it is easy to commit war crimes in Lebanon by razing towns and villages from the air. But can you defeat Hezbollah? The regime knows it is impossible. This is why it changed the officially declared objective mid-way through the war from defeating Hezbollah to ending Hezbollah’s threat to northern settlements. Both are dead ends. But Netanyahu needs war to stay in power.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak described the current Netanyahu government as “misleading,” saying that Netanyahu is “counting bodies” and deceiving Israelis, according to the Hebrew newspaper Ma’ariv.

Ehud Barak said Netanyahu’s claims about “eliminating Hezbollah” cannot be achieved without “occupying Lebanon,” adding that such a move will not happen because it is “completely impractical and doomed to fail.”

Criticizing the Netanyahu government, saying it has dragged Israel into the most dangerous political and security situation in its history. He argued that the IOF is stretched to its limits, yet “they continue to mislead the public.”

Regarding the ongoing clashes along the Lebanese border, Ehud Barak expressed his “deep concern” over “ground operations” in Lebanon, arguing that such a course of action may not be based on practical considerations.

He stated that “the real question about the withdrawal from Lebanon is not why it happened in 2000, but why it did not happen 15 years earlier,” adding that “Hezbollah developed because we remained inside Lebanon.”

The newspaper Haaretz criticized the government’s “false sense of triumph” and its handling of the war.

Meanwhile, Hassan Fadlallah, a member of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc, told local media that Hezbollah’s position regarding the U.S. ceasefire proposal remains clear: there must be a comprehensive ceasefire as a prerequisite for the occupying regime’s withdrawal and the return of displaced residents to the south.

Fadlallah revealed that the U.S. secretary of state had attempted to promote a new military formula based on “the southern suburbs in exchange for the (northern settlements)” without committing to a comprehensive ceasefire, stressing that the proposal was rejected.

Fadlallah indicated that a new development occurred following Iranian intervention. Hezbollah was informed by Lebanon’s president that U.S. President Donald Trump had contacted Lebanon’s ambassador and requested an end to mutual attacks as a first step toward a comprehensive ceasefire.

He explained that the matter remains under discussion and that communication is ongoing with the Lebanese President regarding the issue. He also stressed that Hezbollah and parliament speaker Nabih Berri share a unified position aimed at achieving a comprehensive ceasefire.

Fadlallah added that rapid developments require close monitoring and that discussions continue to formulate a national position. However, he emphasized that implementation remains the true test because “we are dealing with a treacherous enemy.” He added: “The important thing is that we all reach an outcome that serves our country’s interests and protects its sovereignty. We will not accept a return to the situation that existed before March 2.”