Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensified overnight across southern Lebanon, with deadly exchanges leaving soldiers and civilians killed and wounded, according to the Israeli military and Lebanese state media.

The Israeli army said five soldiers were wounded in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon overnight, including one in serious condition, after an explosive drone struck forces in the village of Kfar Tebnit.

The military said the drone hit troops from the Commando Brigade. It added that a reservist officer was seriously wounded, three reservist soldiers were moderately injured, and one non-commissioned officer sustained light injuries. All were evacuated to hospital, and their families have been notified.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident came hours after a separate strike in the same village in which a tank was hit, killing four soldiers, including a battalion commander.

In a series of overnight operations, the IDF said it struck more than 80 targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, including Hezbollah command centres, rocket launch sites and other infrastructure. It said the strikes also hit targets in the Nabatiyeh area and other parts of southern Lebanon, as well as two manned Hezbollah command centres in the Beqaa Valley.

The military said “dozens of Hezbollah terrorists operating in those command centres were eliminated” during the strikes.

The IDF said the operations were carried out in response to what it described as repeated Hezbollah violations of a ceasefire, adding that it continued to target what it called Hezbollah infrastructure across multiple areas in Lebanon.

Deadly strikes across southern Lebanon

According to the latest toll from the Lebanese health ministry, Israeli airstrikes and bombardments killed at least 47 people and wounded 97 others on Friday. 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit multiple villages across the Nabatiyeh and Jezzine districts before dawn, with inhabited residential areas coming under fire and widespread destruction reported.

Preliminary figures cited by NNA said at least 16 people were killed in the strikes. The reported toll included eight killed in Harouf, three members of the same family in Kfarsir, and four people in Sharqiyeh. Lebanese authorities did not distinguish between civilians and combatants in the figures.

In a separate incident, an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle on the Abbassiyeh–Hammadiyeh junction road near Forouj Roumieh before dawn, killing one person.

The escalation triggered fresh displacement from southern Lebanon, with heavy traffic reported at the northern entrance to Sidon as residents fled villages toward Sidon and Beirut amid continued bombardment.

The NNA also reported two heavy Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings in Deir al-Zahrani, though no casualties were immediately confirmed.

Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire hit multiple locations across the Nabatiyeh and Jezzine districts, including Zibdine, Rihan, Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa, Kfar Tebnit, Kfarremman, Kfarjouz, Habboush, the Rahibat neighborhood of Nabatiyeh, and the Ali al-Taher area.

According to Lebanese media, the attacks were accompanied by illumination flares and heavy machine-gun fire over the Ali al-Taher and Kfar Tebnit areas. Israeli warplanes also struck the Abu Rashid heights in the Western Beqaa.

IDF: operations targeting Hezbollah continue

The Israeli military said its operations targeted Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure across southern Lebanon, adding that the campaign was ongoing.

Hezbollah, for its part, carried out the overnight attack in southern Lebanon that killed four Israeli soldiers, including a battalion commander, and wounded five others, according to the IDF.

Israeli minister: “All of Lebanon must burn”

The escalation also drew sharp political reactions in Israel. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said “all of Lebanon must burn” following the announcement of Israeli casualties.

“With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn,” Ben Gvir said in a statement.

The latest round of violence underscores the continuing risk of wider escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border, as cross-border attacks intensify and diplomatic efforts struggle to contain the conflict.