Rubble and debris are strewn across a road at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, in the al Kafaat neighborhood, on March 17, 2026. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Three Lebanese soldiers were killed and five others wounded in three Israeli strikes targeting military personnel Tuesday in the Nabatieh region, at Qaaqaait al-Jisr, Doueir and Zibdin. The soldiers were targeted by drones while driving on roads in the area south of the Zahrani River — an area for which the Israeli army had issued evacuation orders earlier that morning.
The Lebanese Army confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed after sustaining injuries in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a group of five soldiers as they drove a civilian vehicle on a road in Qaaqaait al-Jisr. The other four wounded soldiers, including one in serious condition, remain hospitalized, according to the Army.
According to information from our correspondent in the south, the soldiers targeted were not on patrol at the time of the attack, but were returning from duty, and all were in uniform. Two others were targeted by a drone while also riding a scooter in Zibdin, according to our correspondent and a brief statement from the military. Another soldier was targeted and seriously wounded while riding a two-wheeler in Doueir.
Later in the day, the Lebanese army provided more details on the three conscripts killed in Nabatieh. They are Omar Nazem Abed, born in 2004 in Ain Arab, in the Rashaya district (West Bekaa); Mohammad Moustapha Bilal Baadarani, born in 2004 in Ali Nahri, in the Zahle district; and Mehdi Akram Kobeissi, born in 2005 in Burj al-Barajneh (Baabda). They were all unmarried and had received several distinctions during their service.
President of the Republic Joseph Aoun called Defense Minister Michel Menassah and Army Commander-in-Chief Rodolph Haykal to offer his condolences after the deaths of three soldiers in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. He strongly condemned "the targeting of military personnel, even as deadly attacks continue against hundreds of innocent women, men and children." The president emphasized that "targeting the Lebanese army, which plays a unifying role in preserving sovereignty, is in total contradiction to calls from Lebanon and the international community to strengthen its military capabilities so it can extend its authority across the entire territory and ensure the state's monopoly on arms."
Commenting on the strike in "Froun," a village near Qaaqaait al-Jisr, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army, Ella Waweia, said an investigation is underway into the strike that "injured several Lebanese Army soldiers."
She added that "the Israeli army acts against Hezbollah, not against the Lebanese army or Lebanese civilians." Since March 2, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 886 people, including 111 children, according to a tally updated as of March 16. The Israeli army said it has eliminated about 400 Hezbollah fighters.
This is not the first time Lebanese soldiers have been killed by Israel since the war between Hezbollah and Israel started on March 2, even though the army is not participating in the fighting. Last week, two soldiers were killed in another drone strike in Souaneh (Marjayoun), and in a bombardment in Braasheet (Bint Jbeil).
The Lebanese Army also condemned “in the strongest terms these Israeli attacks targeting military personnel and civilians,” and said their intensification reveals “the destructive intentions of the Israeli occupation toward our country.”
“These acts constitute a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, the security of its citizens, and relevant international resolutions, and have negative repercussions on regional stability,” the military added, stressing “the need to implement international resolutions, in particular Resolution 1701, and to respect the ceasefire agreement.”
