Israeli airstrike kills three Lebanese army officers in south Lebanon

On Saturday in early June 2026, an Israeli strike hit a Lebanese army vehicle traveling between Khardali (El‑Khardali) and Nabatiyeh, near Marjayoun. The attack killed three soldiers: Brigadier General Wissam Sabra, Captain Elie Khoury and a private. Israel said the vehicle was moving suspiciously in an active combat zone and that the strike targeted Hezbollah activities, not the Lebanese army.

The incident occurred days after a U.S.‑brokered conditional cease‑fire was announced, and it prompted strong condemnation from Lebanese officials. President Joseph Aoun labeled the strike a “flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called it a “heinous crime.” Hezbollah denounced the attack as an aggression against Lebanon. UNIFIL and other international observers described the strike as a breach of the cease‑fire framework established after the 2006 war.

Separate Israeli attacks that day hit the village of Saksakiyah, killing six civilians and wounding four. The escalation raises concerns that the fragile truce could collapse, potentially widening the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and affecting broader regional stability.