Three soldiers were killed fighting on Israel’s borders on Tuesday, one in Gaza and two in two separate battles in Lebanon, as the IDF conducted intense strikes on Beirut and Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and drones at Israel.
St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Saar Eliad Navarsky, 27, from Tel Aviv-Jaffa, was killed in a battle in the North in which three other reservists from the 508th Battalion, 7338th “Adirim” Brigade, were severely injured and evacuated to the hospital.
Maj. (res.) Aviram Hariv, 42, from Dolev, was killed in battle in southern Lebanon, while in a separate incident, a reservist was seriously injured in combat.
The IDF announced on Tuesday that it struck overnight in Beirut Hezbollah’s Naval Unit, where the terrorist group stored military speedboats, a training center, and an area to conduct experiments.
The military further noted that “Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including issuing precise and advanced warnings issued via different platforms to the civilian population in the area, using precise munitions, and leveraging aerial surveillance.”
The IDF said it struck approximately 10 military command and control centers belonging to Hezbollah, including its elite Radwan Unit, at various locations across southern Lebanon.
On Tuesday evening, at around 7:30 p.m., a drone launched from Lebanon crossed over into Israeli territory, setting off many sirens. About half an hour later, the IDF said it had concluded the event, and the drone had likely fallen in an open area.
Last time the location of a drone could not be corroborated, it hit the mess hall of the main Golani training base, killing four people and injuring over 60.
Late Monday night, an aerial target was shot down by the IDF from the East. Early Tuesday morning, one rocket fell in an open area in the northern West Bank.
Later, close to 8 a.m., approximately 20 rockets were launched at the North. Most were intercepted and some fell in open areas. About 10 rockets from Lebanon crossed in around 12 p.m., some falling in open areas, followed by some 30 rockets about an hour later.
After the five rockets were identified, Hezbollah said it bombed the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit 8200 located in Tel Aviv’s suburbs with a missile salvo. Hezbollah also claimed it had targeted a navy base near Haifa.
Later reports indicated that a 53-year-old man was lightly wounded from debris falling in Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, north of Caesarea, which also damaged buildings and parked vehicles. He was evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera for further medical treatment.
Three people were moderately wounded in a rocket strike in Kibbutz Neot Mordechai.
Late Monday night, IDF chief spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed that the former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker in Dahiyeh near Beirut was located underneath a hospital – which held gold and half a billion dollars in cash.
The IDF said that one of the bunkers was located beneath Sahel Hospital and was used as Nasrallah’s emergency bunker. Following the announcement, the hospital was quickly evacuated, hospital director Fadi Alame told Reuters on Monday, despite there not being an Israeli alert of the strike. Hagari confirmed that Israel will not strike the hospital.
Alame also denied the allegation and called on the Lebanese army to visit the site as a sign of proof.
“This money could and still can go to rebuilding the state of Lebanon,” said Hagari. “This money had been intended to go exclusively to arming the terrorist organization Hezbollah and had no other destination.”
He added that IAF aircraft are monitoring the compound and will continue to do so.
“We call on the citizens of Lebanon, the Lebanese government, and international institutions – do not allow Hezbollah to keep terrorist funds under a hospital. Even in the coming hours, we will continue to attack Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon, including in Beirut in Dahiyeh.
“Our war is not against the citizens of Lebanon – but against a murderous terrorist organization which continues to arm itself and align itself with the interests of the Islamic Republic regime. We will continue to work to create security that will allow the return of our residents of the north to their homes.
On Tuesday, the IDF announced that throughout Monday, more than 230 targets of Hamas and Hezbollah were hit across Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, including three Aerial Unit headquarters responsible for launching drones at Israel. The Lebanese government said that at least 63 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the last day.
In Gaza, the IDF said that the 162nd Division pressed on in its pursuit of Hamas terrorists in Jabalya and at the same time provided an escape route for Palestinian civilians to escape the direct war zone. The military said thousands moved out and that “dozens of terrorists were arrested from among the civilians.”
The IDF added that troops in Beit Lahiya destroyed several tunnel shafts and a rocket launcher.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, troops continued to fight Hamas and confiscated weapons. The military said that over the last day, the IAF struck a rocket launcher in Rafah.
The IDF and Shin Bet announced that on Thursday, 18 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed in the Abu Hassan school in northern Gaza. The military said it was being used as a command and control center and that before it attacked, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
The IDF listed from Hamas’s military wing: deputy company commander Hafez Essam Khalil Abu-Seif; platoon commander Osama Ahmed Misbah Al-Arini; deputy squad commanders Mustafa Ali Khalil Auda, Bilal Mahmmud Ahmed Hatib, and Muhammad Abdullah Abd-el Rahman Tamraz; terrorists Muhammad Rafat Hussein Dahir, Yussef Kamel Mahmoud Hatib, Ammar Iyyad Muhammad Arbid, Alaa Deeb Misbah Al-Najjar, Abd-el Karim Hassan Awad Hamduna, Ahmed Abd-el Rahman Muhammad Abu Al-Jabin, Yussef Husseini Ali Salam, and Raed Muhammad Sabahi Tamraz. Also listed was Ahmed Abd-El Nasser Awad Hamduna, a terrorist in the organization.
Further listed from PIJ were deputy platoon commander Muhammad Samih Atwa Sheikh; squad commander Abd-el Rahman Fawzi Kamel Wishah; and terrorists Abdullah Nafiz Muhammad Abu Morsi and Ibrahim Hussein Mahmoud Mussa.
St.-Sgt. Yishai Mann, aged 21, was killed in an operational car accident near the Gaza border, the IDF announced. His funeral was set for Tuesday.