Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson, BG Effie Defrin-June 6, 2025

Good evening, 

During an operational mission of troops from the Commando Brigade Combat Team, four soldiers fell in combat this morning - Staff Sergeant Yoav Raver from the Yahalom Unit, Sergeant Major (Res.) Chen Gross from the Maglan Unit, and two additional combat soldiers whose names have not yet been cleared for publication, their families have been notified. Additionally, five combat soldiers were injured, one soldier was severely injured, and four sustained moderate injuries. The troops were operating in an area in Khan Yunis, in a compound of the Hamas terrorist organization. At around 6:00 AM, an explosive device was detonated, causing a part of the structure to collapse.

This is a difficult evening; we share in the grief of the families, embrace them, and continue to accompany them.

The troops have been operating in the region for the past three weeks under the command of the 98th Division. The troops in the field operated with full operational support.

As I described earlier this week, our activities in this operation are ongoing - the troops are engaging and advancing according to a structured method. 

This morning, we held a situational assessment and a preliminary inquiry of the incident at the Southern Command, led by the Chief of the General Staff.

We are reviewing and learning from every incident, and also from this incident - we will draw conclusions. 

We continue striking Hamas, damaging its capabilities, and operating for the security of the civilians of the State of Israel. 

On Wednesday night, in a covert operation, also in the area of Khan Yunis, we recovered the bodies of the couple, Judi Lynn Weinstein, aged 70, and Gad Haggai, aged 72, may their memory be a blessing. They were murdered on October 7th during their daily walk in the fields of Nir Oz, and then abducted by terrorists.

Based on accurate intelligence and after conditions were met, the recovery was carried out in the heart of Khan Yunis.

The recovery was carried out by IDF troops under the Southern Command, in coordination with the Intelligence Directorate, the Hostages Task Force, the ISA, and special forces. 

We share in the grief of Judi and Gad’s children and families, and we embrace the community of Nir Oz.

We have a critical and moral mission to bring all 56 hostages home, and our troops are working towards this with courage and determination.

In the northern arena, last night, the IDF began striking targets in Dahieh, in Beirut, and in southern Lebanon. IAF aircraft struck six underground terrorist infrastructure sites used for the production and storage of UAVs.

These sites were used by Unit 127, the aerial unit of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which was severely damaged throughout the war. The IDF already struck its assets and chain of command, and eliminated the unit’s commander.

After uncovering Hezbollah’s renewed production program, we struck the relevant sites. We will not allow this threat to grow; we will respond with full force to any threat.

The renewed production was intended to prepare Hezbollah for carrying out thousands more UAV attacks against Israeli civilians in the future. We will not allow that to happen.

Throughout the war, Hezbollah’s aerial unit launched over a thousand UAV-based attacks toward Israeli territory, resulting in casualties on Israel’s home front.

This renewed production constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire and understandings between Israel and Lebanon. We will continue to enforce the ceasefire agreement and keep removing every threat to the citizens of Israel.

In addition, yesterday, we also struck a drone manufacturing workshop used for attacks and intelligence collection in southern Lebanon.

The infrastructure sites targeted were located within civilian areas, in the heart of Beirut, beneath the homes of Lebanese residents. This is further proof of the cynical use by terrorist organizations of the civilian population as human shields.

It is important to emphasize that last night's strike was carried out against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

We will not allow Hezbollah to rise and restore the capabilities it had on October 7th.

We will strike targets wherever necessary. Our troops are prepared for both defense and offense.

We will continue to act to achieve all of the objectives of the war, ensure the security of our citizens — we are mission-driven.

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