Israel Pays Heavy Price In Lebanon

Israel appears to be nearing a decision on a ceasefire with Lebanon as its military continues to take losses while operating against Hezbollah in the south of the country.

On November 13, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that six troops from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion were killed after being ambushed by Hezbollah fighters inside a building in a town in southern Lebanon. Lebanese media said that the town where the deadly incident took place is Bint Jbeil.

The next day, November 14, a platoon commander from the 51st Battalion was mourned by the IDF. The officer was reportedly killed in a clash with Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah fire claimed another soldier of the Golani Brigade, this time from the 13th Battalion, on November 16. The IDF said that the soldier was also killed in a clash with Hezbollah fighters from point blank range.

On November 17, Israel dealt a blow to Hezbollah by assassinating Mohammad Afif, the head of its media relations. Hezbollah later admitted that four members of its media office were killed alongside Afif in an Israeli strike that targeted an office of the Ba’ath Party in the center of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The assassination didn’t affect the morale of Hezbollah. On November 18, a drone attack by the group killed a soldier from the Golani Brigade’s logistics unit in southern Lebanon.

November 20 was another deadly day for the IDF in southern Lebanon. The military said that a soldier from the Maglan commando unit was killed in southern Lebanon after a building collapsed on top of him.

Separately, an Israeli archaeologist was killed along with a soldier from the Golani Brigade after a clash with Hezbollah fighters at the shrine of the Prophet Simon Peter near the southern Lebanese town of Chamaa.

The archaeologist entered southern Lebanon with the help of the chief of staff of the Golani Brigade. He was wearing an IDF uniform and armed. The officer accompanying him was moderately wounded in the same firefight.

The amounting losses in Lebanon have apparently pushed Israel closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. United States Special Envoy Amos Hochstein stated from Beirut on November 19 that a ceasefire agreement was “within our grasp.”

Despite the progress in ceasefire talks with Lebanon, both Israel and the U.S. appear to be determined to go on with the war on the Gaza Strip which caused the conflict with Hezbollah in the first place.