Two reservists killed, four seriously wounded by IED blast in south Lebanon; IDF strikes Hezbollah in response

The Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday morning that two reservist soldiers were killed, and four were seriously wounded after being hit by an explosive device in the southern Lebanon town of Majdal Zoun a day earlier. The deadly attack prompted the military to resume strikes on Wednesday against Hezbollah, as talks on expanding the truce between the two countries were said to hit a bump in the road in Rome.

The slain troops were named as: Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock, 34, a company commander from Nokdim; and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, 33, from Eilat. Both served in the 55th Paratroopers Brigade’s 2855th Battalion.

According to an initial IDF probe, at around noon on Wednesday, troops of the reserve brigade entered a building in Majdal Zoun, during efforts to demolish Hezbollah infrastructure. As they entered, an explosion occurred, killing and injuring the forces.

It was not immediately clear when the explosive device had been planted and how it was detonated on the forces.

The wounded troops were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the army added.

The announcement came after the IDF hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Wednesday following the blast, which it called a “blatant violation” of the tenuous ceasefire.

A short while before launching the “precise strikes” — the first since August 1 — the IDF issued the first evacuation warning for an area of southern Lebanon in weeks, and called for residents of Mansouri to evacuate at least one kilometer north of the village.

“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to operate against it with force,” said Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokeswoman.

“Anyone located near Hezbollah operatives, facilities, or weapons is putting their life at risk!” she added.

One person was killed and 11 wounded in an Israeli strike on Tebnine, southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reports. The area is separate from where the IDF issued an evacuation notice earlier. pic.twitter.com/bPIjVK7wiS

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 5, 2026

The Lebanese health ministry said one person was killed and 12 others were wounded in the strike, which it said targeted Tebnine, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Mansouri.

The state-run National News Agency said that the strike hit a prayer room in the town’s cemetery.

There was no immediate information on the identity of the dead.

Later Wednesday, the military said that an interceptor missile was fired at a target, which was later revealed to have been fired by Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon. There were no injuries in the incident, which was under further investigation, the IDF added.

Lebanese civilians had returned to Mansouri, which is located around 10 kilometers north of Israel, during the ceasefire under the protection of the Lebanese army, which also set up a roadblock in the area in violation of the agreements, according to the IDF.

The town’s municipality told residents on June 22 that they could return, but asked them to avoid the part of the town that fell within Israel’s so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon.

Mansouri has been subjected to several Israeli strikes and artillery shelling in recent weeks despite the June 26 ceasefire, and the IDF said the village was evacuated for residents’ safety, as military operations were still taking place there.

The UN’s humanitarian agency said on Tuesday that more than 800,000 people displaced by fighting in Lebanon had begun heading back home following the recent lull in violence, though more than 360,000 remained displaced.

Israel said to accuse Beirut of leaking false information

Meanwhile, in Rome, talks between Israel and Lebanon ended several hours early, though there were several conflicting reports as to the cause.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter accused the Lebanese delegation of repeatedly leaking false information to Lebanese media, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel.

Because of the leaks, Leiter asked the US mediators to suspend the talks before their scheduled conclusion, the source said, while clarifying that talks were still slated to pick back up on Thursday.

A US State Department official later confirmed that the talks had ended early, but said this was due to “events on the ground,” apparently referring to the Israeli strikes.

The US State Department official nevertheless downplayed the development, stressing that talks would reconvene Thursday as planned.

“Discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive. The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework,” the State Department official said.

The goal of this week’s talks was to establish working groups on six issues: maritime borders, land borders, evaluating the pilot zones where the Lebanese army has replaced the IDF, disarming Hezbollah, stopping the flow of Iranian money into Lebanon, and stepping up reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon.

The direct Washington-backed negotiations are the seventh round since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into a wider Middle East war in March by firing rockets at Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says has killed more than 4,300 people, although the figure doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Israel said late last month it had killed at least 2,500 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.