Paratroopers hit at border

Two Israeli paratroopers were wounded in rocket fire from Lebanon as fighting along the northern border kept spreading into new flashpoints over the past week. (timesofisrael.com) The Israeli military said on April 7 that two people were wounded when Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel, as the army also said it had finished deploying troops along what it called an “anti-tank line” several kilometers inside southern Lebanon. Israeli officials said the line was meant to block Hezbollah missile fire at border communities. (timesofisrael.com) Israeli forces from the 98th Division, which includes the Paratroopers Brigade, were moved into the area as part of that push, according to Israeli reporting citing a military briefing. A separate March 28 report said a soldier from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion was killed by Hezbollah rocket fire in southern Lebanon and three other soldiers were wounded in the same attack. (timesofisrael.com) (ynetnews.com) The border fighting is running alongside a wider Israel-Hezbollah war that intensified again after March 2, 2026, and then surged after Israeli strikes across Lebanon on April 8. The World Health Organization’s representative in Lebanon said on April 10 that about 300 people were killed and 1,150 were injured in those strikes, citing Lebanon’s Health Ministry. (news.un.org) Israel says its ground operation in southern Lebanon is aimed at pushing Hezbollah away from the frontier and preventing attacks on northern towns. Lebanese officials, United Nations agencies and rights groups have said Israeli strikes have hit civilian areas, ambulances and infrastructure, and have driven up casualties and displacement. (timesofisrael.com) (news.un.org) (hrw.org) The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the peacekeeping mission on the border, has also been hit repeatedly. UNIFIL said on March 30 that two peacekeepers were killed when an explosion destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan, and on April 7 it said Israeli forces had detained a peacekeeper after blocking a logistics convoy. (unifil.unmissions.org) Another UNIFIL statement on March 12 said peacekeepers detected more than 120 projectiles launched from Lebanese territory toward Israel and seven Israeli air attacks across Lebanon in one night. On April 3, three UNIFIL peacekeepers were wounded at a base near Odaisseh; UNIFIL said it did not yet know the origin of the blast, while the Israeli military said a Hezbollah rocket caused it. (unifil.unmissions.org) (timesofisrael.com) The current fighting also cuts across diplomacy. The New York Times reported on April 12 that Israeli and Lebanese officials were expected to hold rare direct talks in Washington this week even as Israeli attacks in Lebanon continued. (nytimes.com) For now, the immediate pattern is unchanged: rockets from Lebanon are still wounding Israeli troops and civilians, and Israeli operations deeper inside southern Lebanon are bringing more soldiers, peacekeepers and Lebanese civilians into the line of fire. (timesofisrael.com 1) (timesofisrael.com 2) (news.un.org)