Hezbollah attacks kill 1 IDF soldier, wound 12 others as US-Iran deal forbids Israeli military action in Lebanon

Almost at the same time as U.S. President Donald Trump was signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Iranian regime on Wednesday evening, Israeli troops in Lebanon were being evacuated to a hospital after suffering yet another attack from Hezbollah.

Over the past two days, the terror group has killed an IDF soldier and wounded twelve others, despite the ostensible ceasefire and the MoU, which, to Israel’s chagrin, is meant to reinforce it.

Just hours before Trump signed the deal on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, an explosive device killed Master Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin (29) and wounded seven others, including the deputy commander of the 36th division, an officer with the rank of colonel.

“This is not what we had hoped for,” Israeli officials told Ynet News. After several days of speculation about the exact details of the agreement, its text was leaked to several media outlets before U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirmed, “It’s going to include the Gulf, it’s going to include Israel, it’s going to include Lebanon.”

Call this the “Hezbollah lifeline” clause. https://t.co/qOW1qURdc4 pic.twitter.com/h3p1CySyTR

— David Daoud (@DavidADaoud) June 17, 2026

Asked by journalist Megyn Kelly whether Israel would respect the deal, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting that Israel would not be bound by any clause limiting its freedom of action in Lebanon, Vance only replied: “The idea is that if the Iranians comply, then we are going to have a true transformative deal for the Middle East."

Israel is “conducting stubborn negotiations” with the U.S. to ensure IDF troops can stay in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters.

According to Ynet News, IDF officials stressed to the political leadership that Israel must maintain the ability to strike Hezbollah anywhere in Lebanon and mustn’t vacate the buffer zone in the southern part of the country, which has to remain demilitarized to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians in northern Israel.

While some Hezbollah attacks have triggered alarm sirens in northern Israel over the past weeks, most drone and rocket strikes have focused on IDF troops stationed in the buffer zone.

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime continues to try to play Washington and Jerusalem against each other. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei reiterated that “the continued occupation of Lebanon” or any attacks there “will be considered a violation of the agreement,” raising the pressure on the U.S. to prevent such strikes – while Hezbollah is free to attack IDF troops.

An IDF reservist soldier was killed, and seven others were wounded, including senior officers, by a Hezbollah explosive device in southern Lebanon yesterday afternoon, the military announces.

The slain soldier is named as Master Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin, 29, a combat soldier… pic.twitter.com/0JCkuKMDwO

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 18, 2026

“Iran is the great winner and Israel the loser of this confrontation,” an Israeli source told Ynet.

“The stock market is falling because there was an expectation that Israel would become the investment center of the Middle East—but instead it comes out looking like a loser. Iran has emerged as a global power, while Israel has gone from being a regional power to becoming the world's punching bag. In such a situation, it will be very difficult for Netanyahu to oppose a withdrawal from Lebanon. The pressure will increase,” the source added.

While they criticized the MoU overall, security officials also told Ynet that “on the positive side, despite all its loopholes, there is a chance that it will push back Iran's nuclear program by 10 to 15 years, that the Iranians will have to focus on reconstruction, that support for proxy groups will be reduced, and more.”

In comments to reporters on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that “We have a little dispute about Lebanon.”

According to the news outlet Axios, U.S. officials expressed hope that, over the 60-day period of the MoU, Lebanon and Israel would make progress in their negotiations and reach an agreement for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon that way.

Over the past days, Trump had publicly criticized Israel’s actions against Hezbollah, even going so far as to suggest that Syria would do a better job. According to the Wall Street Journal, this was reflected in the heated tone of their personal phone calls in recent days.

“Why are you blowing up buildings?” Trump asked Netanyahu, people familiar with the call told the newspaper. “Stop blowing up buildings.”

The IDF says it struck and destroyed the launcher used by Hezbollah to fire a barrage of rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon earlier.

The military says the launcher was armed for an additional attack, and a result of the strike, rockets flew out and struck open areas. https://t.co/Ie1iSJ9uON pic.twitter.com/MLPnCS9Cw1

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 17, 2026

Accordingly, Israeli officials were reportedly surprised by the announcement of the MoU, having prepared for more military strikes instead.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Wednesday hailed the deal as a “great victory” and a “pivotal point” for Lebanon.

Qassem thanked the Iranian regime for “linking the Lebanese arena” to the deal and “forcing Israel to stop its aggression” in Lebanon.

He also repeated his calls to the Lebanese government not to reach a political agreement with Israel. “The ceiling for the negotiations with the Israeli enemy is mutual security... and any proposal under the banner of disarmament will not pass, as this is an Israeli recipe for taking everything and wrecking the country,” Qassem said.

“Everything linked to organizing our domestic situation, whether the issue of weapons or the economy, or the national security strategy or defense strategy... it all must be completely outside the negotiations. This we discuss internally,” he said.

On the ground in Lebanon, the IDF continues to hold its positions, while, notably, carrying out fewer airstrikes and responding to recent attacks only with artillery fire.

The IDF said it carried out artillery shelling after the incident that killed Filin, as well as after Wednesday’s dual drone attack that wounded five soldiers, including one in serious condition.

Filin had immigrated alone from Ukraine 14 years ago. In 2018, on Israel's 70th Independence Day, he received the President's Award for Excellence for neutralizing a terrorist who attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in Nablus.

At the time, he recounted, “I was involved in an incident with a terrorist at the Nablus checkpoint who wanted to harm my friend. I shot him and effectively neutralized him, saving my friend's life. In the IDF, you deal with things that aren't simple, and people on the outside don't think about it. We're not just standing at the border for no reason—we're protecting the citizens and the country.”