Four IDF soldiers were killed overnight in a Hezbollah attack in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebnit, and five soldiers were wounded there hours later, the military said Friday.

Lebanon’s health ministry, meanwhile, reported at least 18 people killed by Israeli strikes. The tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The violence was the latest in deadly clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group that have continued in Lebanon since the US and Iran this week reached a memorandum of understanding that committed them and their allies to halt hostilities in the country.

Israel, which was not party to the MOU, has rebuffed Iranian demands that it withdraw from a buffer zone in south Lebanon meant to protect border towns against Hezbollah attacks. A US official told Axios that Iranian anger over Israeli military activity there may be the reason US-Iranian talks scheduled for Friday were canceled.

In the Hezbollah attack shortly past midnight, a suspected drone or anti-tank missile struck the tank of Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion, killing all four crew members, the IDF said.

The names of the three other soldiers killed in the incident will be published later. The exact cause of the explosion is under further investigation by the IDF.

Ben Simhon, 32, from Kibbutz Beit HaShita in northern Israel, is survived by two daughters and a wife who serves as a combat officer in the Border Defense Corps.

Ben Simhon served in several roles in the 401st Brigade throughout his military career. During the fighting with Hezbollah in 2024, he served as the chief of staff for the head of the Northern Command.

He took the helm of the 52nd Battalion on April 20 after the battalion’s commander was seriously wounded in south Lebanon.

Hours after the deadly strike on Ben Simhon’s tank, an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah struck forces of the Commando Brigade in Kfar Tebnit, wounding five soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the IDF.

The seriously wounded soldier was identified as a reservist officer. The four other wounded soldiers included three reservists and an NCO.

The IDF said the troops were taken to a........

© The Times of Israel