Israel kills at least 47 people in Lebanon: today's news alert

Israel kills at least 47 people in Lebanon: today’s news alert

Renowned journalist Guy Smallman is on the ground in Southern Lebanon for the Canary. Here is his first daily report.

To understand the flare-up today, Friday 19 June, between the IDF and Hezbollah’s resistance fighters, it is first necessary to take a look at the location in Lebanon.

Lebanon: Friday, 19 June

The Ali al-Taher ridge in Lebanon is home to a complex system of tunnels which form the backbone of local infrastructure for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan brigade. Constructed largely in secrecy, the complex was officially declared in a video by the group’s military media unit in 2024.

Described as an underground city, with tunnels big enough to accommodate vehicles and rocket launchers, its presence partially explains why Nabatieh, the nearest city, has endured the most airstrikes since the Israeli incursion into south Lebanon. Control of this area is vital to the IDF for any kind of occupation to be viable.

So when Israeli tanks began advancing on the area in question late last night (Thursday 18 June), it was fiercely defended by local resistance fighters. Israeli media have confirmed the destruction of at least three of its Merkava tanks. One of which saw four fatalities, including the brigade commander Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon. Later in the early hours, there were five more seriously injured, including a reservist described as critical. Footage posted online shows intense helicopter activity in the area, suggesting the evacuation of many casualties.

The retaliation from the IDF has been brutal, with airstrikes happening across the south of Lebanon and also in the Hezbollah strongholds of the Bekaa valley. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has declared that 47 civilians are confirmed dead, with at least 97 seriously injured. That figure is expected to rise with the total death toll in Lebanon now at 3980, just 20 shy of another grim milestone.

A ceasefire?

In the background to today’s carnage in Lebanon, both the US and Iran have been urging their local partners to pull back. Both Hezbollah and the IDF have agreed to observe a ceasefire that came into effect at 4pm while adding that they will respond with extreme force if provoked by the other side.

Meanwhile the peace talks scheduled in Switzerland for today between the Iranians and Americans with JD Vance representing Trump have been postponed until after the weekend.

Today’s events are a stark reminder that while the IDF can bomb Lebanon, a country with no air defence, at will. It cannot make serious advances on the ground without taking casualties. The local resistance, made up of highly trained full-timers and local volunteers, is experts in the hit-and-run tactics of guerrilla warfare and defending territory that they know better than their invading enemies.