Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded on Saturday when their engineering vehicle drove over an explosive device planted by Hezbollah in the Security Zone in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said. The soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment, and their families were notified. In direct response, the IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure across several areas of southern Lebanon, targeting observation posts and other sites the military said Hezbollah operatives use to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli forces. The incident is the latest flashpoint in a security zone Israeli troops have continued to occupy under the terms of last year's ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.

The IDF said its forces remain deployed in the security zone in accordance with that agreement and will keep operating to remove threats facing both Israeli civilians and soldiers. The bombing comes amid a broader pattern of friction along the Lebanon-Israel border in recent weeks, including Israeli forces advancing toward the outskirts of Deir Mimas and facing off with Lebanese troops near the buffer zone, as UN peacekeepers have warned of a looming security vacuum when their force withdraws from the area at the end of the year. Israeli forces have also spent recent months dismantling Hezbollah's underground infrastructure in the region, including a monthslong operation on the Ali Taher ridge that uncovered a sprawling tunnel network serving as the central command compound for the group's Badr Unit.