Diarmuid Breatnach
(Reading time: 3 mins.)
The operations of Hizbollah in defence of South Lebanon against the IOF, the most powerful military power in the region, have been epic enough. But now the ‘Israeli’ military fear their commanders are being specifically targeted by the Resistance.1
It may be unlucky coincidence that two commanders have been seriously wounded and one killed in a matter of weeks but the High Command of the Zionist army don’t think so, according to media in the Zionist entity, speculating instead ofn high level Hizbollah intelligence to target IOF commanders.
On Saturday/ Sunday night the Deputy Commander of the Commando Brigade’s Maglan unit was among 13 IOF injured by a Resistance drone strike and one killed.2 On Friday Lt. Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed.3
Three members of Ben Simhon’s crew were killed with him after their tank was struck during operations near Kfar Tebnit in South Lebanon. The 52nd Battalion is the unit implicated in the killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab while she called for help after the killing of six family members.4
Northern Command’s Major-General Rafi Milo had a very lucky escape when his car was hit by an explosive drone minutes after he had left it in South Lebanon.5
Of course, assassinations are and have been a regular part of the offensive package of the IOF – not only assassination of military leaders but also civilian administrators, technicians, first responders, news reporters, writers, artists and poets. But the IOF are unaccustomed to being paid in kind.
It won’t be in kind from Hizbollah, for the Lebanese Resistance is hitting tanks, armoured troop carriers, military personnel and, when they killed an ‘Israeli’ civilian and injured his son, the man was driving an earth remover for the military, demolishing South Lebanese homes not yet bombed level.6
Hizbollah has been carrying out around 30 operations a day against the invading IOF, employing rockets, guided missiles and drones but also IEDs, RPGs and small arms fire. Hardly a day passed without their drones striking at least one Merkava tank, a Namer troop carrier and an earth-moving machine.7
Despite failing militarily, the IOF have killed at least 4,192 people (mostly civilians) in Lebanon since the current round of hostilities began, and displaced more than 1.2 million people, reports the Lebanese health ministry, as the IOF applies its Gaza destruction plan to South Lebanon.
According to a UN report, the IOF completely destroyed 11,095 buildings, affecting 17,891 housing units, while 2,242 buildings were partially damaged, equivalent to 5,219 housing units. The report also revealed that 9,311 buildings sustained minor damage, equivalent to 18,282 housing units.8
Career progression from entry to NCO ranks in the IOF is largely based on service length rather than merit and for commanders, also based on meeting the requirements of command training school, so it is not easy for them to replace commanders injured or killed in battle.
The greatest damage perhaps will be to the IOF’s morale, already at far from optimum level.8 Personnel know that they will be required to remain on active service longer than normal and that they are outmatched on a level field, while currently the Haredim9 are exempted from service.10
Typically the IOF retreat quickly from contact with the Resistance and call for shelling or bombing but now Hizbollah’s mortars and rockets can bombard them too and thoughts of small explosive-carrying quadcopters appearing out of nowhere to hunt them down is really scaring them.
In some cases an explosive drone has followed running IOF into buildings, in one case into an IOF operations room. A drone targeting a covered IOF Humvee filmed two leaping out the back without attempting to shoot it down, leaving it to explode against the rest in back and against cab at front.
And what if the Resistance really can track commanders in the battle area, determine where they are and strike them down? IOF soldiers will be uncertain and nervous without leaders, (feelings which might be even worse if they are required to spend time close to possibly targeted commanders!).
Zionist fragmentation is breaking out inside the Zionist entity with some arguing that the IOF should bomb Beirut, others claiming that the IOF is being held back from effective action in South Lebanon and a third group claiming that the IOF should retreat from Lebanon completely.
And hostility towards what Vice President Vance called their “only powerful ally” and sole superpower in the world currently sympathetic to the Israeli state, has grown hugely among the Zionists as they perceive the US-Iran agreement under current negotiation as shattering their military and expansion illusions.
End.
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Footnotes:
1https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-900206
2https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-899975
3https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-attack-kills-israeli-soldier–wounds-13-commando-t
4On January 29 2024 – Two paramedics who set out to save her were also killed by the IOF unit.
5https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-900206
6https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-04-28/ty-article/civilian-contractor-working-for-defense-ministry-killed-in-southern-lebanon/0000019d-d5ca-d9f6-a1dd-ddca943a0000
7https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israel-largest-tank-losses-40yrs-ambushes-21-merkava
8https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/lebanon-building-damage-in-israeli-attacks-estimated-at-138b/3974843
9https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-army-calls-reserves-amid-fears-low-turnout-and-lower-morale
10Fundamentalist Orthodox ‘Israeli’ sect who have been exempt from employment and military conscription, though including 10% of ‘Israel’s’ military age males. Their political representatives are part of Netanyahu’s coalition but are calling now for dissolving the Government and new elections, after other parts of the coalition passed an ordinance removing the Haredim exemption from conscription..
11https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-880294
Sources:
Targeting IOF commanders: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-900206
IOF looting homes in Lebanon: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-05-20/ty-article-magazine/.premium/it-was-okay-to-be-crazy-idf-soldiers-discuss-moral-decay-in-lebanon/
Declining IOF morale: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-army-calls-reserves-amid-fears-low-turnout-and-lower-morale
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israel-largest-tank-losses-40yrs-ambushes-21-merkava
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