WADI SALUKI — IDF troops from Division 36 uncovered a fortified Hezbollah anti-tank missile position in the Wadi Saluki area on July 12, 2026. The site is the same location from which Hezbollah fired on then-commander Effie Defrin during a battle in the Second Lebanon War two decades earlier.

Soldiers discovered several Hezbollah rockets and a launcher aimed at the wadi at the site. The position was part of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, where Israel and the Iranian-backed group have been engaged in ongoing hostilities since March 2026.

Brigadier General Effie Defrin, who currently serves as the IDF Spokesperson, visited troops operating in the Wadi Saluki area in July 2026. During the Second Lebanon War, Defrin was seriously wounded at this location while serving as commander of the 9th Battalion.

The 2006 battle at Wadi Saluki—part of the broader armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah—began when IDF armored forces started to cross the wadi. Hezbollah triggered an ambush after noticing IDF movement in the field. Troops from the Nahal Brigade and the Engineering Corps attempted to secure the area during the engagement.

Eleven IDF officers and soldiers were killed in the 2006 battle, including two company commanders from the 401st Brigade. More than 50 soldiers were wounded in the same engagement. Wadi Saluki is a stream in Wadi Al-Hujeir, southern Lebanon, an area that has remained strategically significant in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Why It Matters

The discovery of a Hezbollah anti-tank position at a historically significant battlefield underscores the persistent militarization of southern Lebanon by the group, which has been banned by the Lebanese government since March 2026. The site’s re-emergence as a threat location two decades after a deadly ambush highlights the continuity of conflict patterns along the Israel-Lebanon border amid ongoing fighting that began in early 2026.