Israel says Hezbollah drone attack wounded 3 soldiers at Ali al Taher; IDF kills Hezbollah commanders in response

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on August 15 that Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops operating on the Ali al Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon with an explosive drone. An IDF officer and two soldiers were seriously wounded when the drone struck the force, according to the Israeli military.

The Israeli outlet Walla reported that the attack occurred at approximately 2:30 am and targeted combat engineers from the IDF’s Yahalom special operations engineering unit operating under the Commando Brigade combat team. The Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar also reported that an explosive drone struck a Yahalom engineering force on Ali al Taher and caused serious casualties.

Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the drone attack. Sources from the group told the Lebanese media outlet Waradana on August 15 that no “clash” with the Israeli military had occurred at Ali al Taher. The report did not specifically address the IDF’s allegation that Hezbollah had launched the explosive drone.

The IDF’s public statements have so far provided no footage of the August 15 drone attack, images of the munition or its wreckage, evidence identifying its launch point, or other publicly available material substantiating the Israeli military’s attribution to Hezbollah.

Israel launched strikes around Nabatieh and Ansar after the incident, which the IDF said were conducted “following an action by Hezbollah against our forces” on Ali al Taher. Israel considers the ridge part of the security zone where its troops are operating under the June 19 ceasefire.

One Israeli strike hit Ansar, southwest of Nabatieh. The IDF later identified one of those killed in the strike as Ali Samir al Hajj Hassan, whom it described as a battalion commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, the group’s commando unit. The Israeli military said it struck a “central Hezbollah headquarters” used to command the group’s activity in the area and that several other Hezbollah operatives involved in preparing attacks against Israeli troops were killed alongside Hassan.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office also stated that the Ansar headquarters was the location “from which the order for the attack [on Ali al Taher] was issued.” The IDF’s statement linked the strike to Hezbollah’s action against Israeli troops but did not specifically state that Hassan personally ordered the drone attack.

Lebanese reporting described the target differently. Janoubia reported that the Israeli strike hit a house on Ansar’s outskirts and killed Hassan, his wife Zainab Mahdi Nassereddine, their four children, and Mohammad Youssef Qassem Atwi. Though not identified in separate initial reporting as such, Janoubia later identified Atwi as Hassan’s “murafeq”— “companion” or “attendant.” Hezbollah gave Hassan and his family an official funeral, in which he and his eldest son appear to have been identified as militants. However, the group and its affiliated media ecosystem have yet to issue an official announcement on Atwi’s death.

Nonetheless, social media posts link Hassan to Hezbollah and affiliated organizations, while others identified him as one of the group’s operatives, with the nom de guerre Al Sayyed Youssef. The Lebanese Health Ministry subsequently said that seven people were killed in the Ansar strike.

The IDF acknowledged that Hassan’s family members were with him at the time of the attack and were killed or wounded. The Israeli military said they were not targets and alleged that Hassan had used his family as human shields by remaining with them inside what Israel described as a military headquarters. Israel has not publicly released evidence demonstrating the building’s alleged military function or substantiating the human-shield allegation.

Israel also struck Deir al Zahrani on August 15. The following morning, the IDF said that the strike killed “Abu Hassan Alaa,” whom it described as a senior commander in Hezbollah’s Badr Unit. Hezbollah’s Badr Unit is the organization’s regional military formation responsible for the sector north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, including the Nabatieh area.

According to the IDF, Alaa had participated in numerous attack plans against Israeli forces operating in the security zone, “including launching explosive drones” at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, and had commanded several Hezbollah combat sectors in recent years. The Israeli military explicitly linked his killing to the weekend incident, saying he was targeted “in response to” Hezbollah’s operation against IDF troops. However, the IDF did not say that Alaa launched, planned, or ordered the August 15 drone attack specifically.

Lebanese outlets identified Alaa as Ali Muhammad Fakhr Al Din from Younin in Lebanon’s northern Bekaa Valley. Janoubia, publishing pictures of Fakhr Al Din in military garb, reported that Hezbollah sources mourned him as a “jihad commander,” though neither these media sources nor Hezbollah publicly identified his precise position in the Badr Unit.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that four people were killed and 17 were wounded in Deir al Zahrani, bringing the combined toll from the Ansar and Deir Al Zahrani strikes to 11 killed and 19 wounded. The ministry said the wounded in Deir Al Zahrani included a child and 11 women.

Lebanese reporting also identified Ali Hassan Hanjoul, known as “Zakariya,” among those killed at Deir al Zahrani and said that Hezbollah-aligned pages mourned him as a member of the “Islamic Resistance.” The IDF has not identified Hanjoul or publicly described his alleged role.

Hezbollah issued a formal statement after the strikes that condemned Israel for killing civilians and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking further escalation. Hezbollah warned that continued Israeli attacks and attempts to impose a new reality “will be met appropriately.” The statement did not claim the Ali al Taher drone attack or directly address Israel’s allegation that Hezbollah had carried it out.

The August 15 incident follows several recent confrontations around Ali al Taher. On July 29, the IDF said that Hezbollah launched another explosive drone at an Israeli engineering vehicle on the ridge. The vehicle was hit, but no casualties were reported. Hezbollah did not claim that attack, and the IDF released no public evidence substantiating its attribution.

On August 1, the IDF said its troops detected several Hezbollah operatives on Ali al Taher and killed them after an encounter that left an Israeli combat officer moderately wounded.

The IDF says it controls Ali al Taher’s aboveground terrain but has not entered or destroyed the entirety of Hezbollah’s underground complex beneath the ridge. Israel describes the subterranean facility as a command center belonging to Hezbollah’s Badr Unit. Hezbollah has disputed Israel’s claim of controlling the ridge.

The weekend’s escalation also produced reports and allegations that Israel is preparing a larger operation to seize or clear Ali al Taher. However, these reports vary significantly in sourcing and do not definitively confirm that an Israeli offensive has been approved.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported on August 16 that the IDF was preparing for the possibility of several days of fighting in Lebanon as it continued operations against Hezbollah infrastructure at Ali al Taher and the nearby Beaufort area. The report said that dozens of Hezbollah operatives remain underground on the ridge, Israel has thwarted attempts to assist them, and the IDF intends to continue destroying the underground infrastructure. The Israeli military has not publicly announced a new ground offensive to capture the tunnels.

The Lebanese broadcaster MTV went further in its August 16 evening-news introduction, asserting that Israel’s military and political leadership had agreed that Hezbollah must leave Ali al Taher and turn the ridge over to the Lebanese Armed Forces, or “the actual battle for the hills will begin.” MTV did not identify a source or provide evidence for this assertion.

Other Lebanese commentary similarly described an approaching battle for Ali al Taher, while some outlets linked the possibility of an Israeli operation to alleged US approval. No public statement from the Israeli or US governments confirms that Washington has authorized an Israeli operation to seize the strategic point.

A subsequent report on August 17 pointed in the opposite direction. MTV, citing unidentified Al Hadath sources, reported that US intervention had stopped a broader Israeli escalation over the weekend and that Washington had not given Israel a green light for a large-scale operation on Ali al Taher. That report is also anonymously sourced and has not been publicly confirmed by Washington or Jerusalem.

The August 15 attack marked the second explosive-drone attack Israel has attributed to Hezbollah at Ali al Taher since July 29, and the first to cause Israeli casualties.

David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.