The incident occurred around 2:00 AM in the village of Deir Siryan, located inside the southern Lebanon security zone. Troops from the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion were entering a building during a routine scan for threats when they were ambushed by a hidden Hezbollah operative.

The gunman opened fire at close range, fatally wounding Cpt. David Hazutt, 21, from Ashkelon, and lightly injuring another soldier before fleeing into the night.

Following the attack, the IDF immediately launched a large-scale manhunt and struck multiple Hezbollah positions in the surrounding area to isolate the threat.