The IDF and Hezbollah continued fighting on several fronts on Tuesday, with 13 IDF soldiers being wounded and one killed in separate incidents.
There was also what appeared to be a temporary spike in Hezbollah aerial attacks on Israel's northern towns, especially on Nahariya, even as the general trend of attacks between the sides has lowered considerably since the Israel-Iran ceasefire on April 8.
Late Tuesday, the IDF Home Front Command warned that Hezbollah might temporarily increase its attacks on Israel's North and even deeper into Israel in order to try to influence the course of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, as well as the negotiations over the ceasefire with the Islamic Republic.
Of the 13 wounded IDF soldiers, 10 were paratroopers who were wounded in fighting with three Hezbollah fighters at Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, where one of the last active larger battles is taking place with IDF Division 98. Three of the IDF soldiers were seriously wounded, one moderately, and another six lightly. All 10 soldiers were evacuated for medical attention.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF had announced that Sergeant Major (Res.) Ayal Uriel Bianco, a 30-year-old fire truck driver in the 188th Brigade from Katzrin, was killed when a Humvee overturned in southern Lebanon.
He is survived by his wife, Yassa, his three young children, his mother, and his brother.
In the same incident in which Ayal was killed, one reservist was moderately wounded, and two others sustained light injuries, the IDF added. The incident is being probed.
Guerilla warfare in southern Lebanon
Several dozens of IDF soldiers have been wounded during the current Lebanon conflict, while 13 have been killed.
Separately, the IDF announced heavy attacks on the southern Lebanese village of Adashit, which the military said was filled with Hezbollah fighters, rocket crews, and weapons.
The IDF statement on the issue appeared to focus on justifying the military's heavy attack on a civilian village, blaming Hezbollah for transforming the village into a military stronghold.
In another incident in fighting around Bint Jbeil, the IDF said on Tuesday night that the day before, it had captured three Hezbollah Radwan special forces fighters and turned them over to its Unit 504 special interrogations outfit.
According to the IDF, initially the Radwan fighters put up a strong fight, but eventually they were overwhelmed by the IDF's superior and precise firepower.
This led three fighters to surrender.
Although not many Hezbollah fighters have surrendered, the IDF has said that those who have have provided invaluable intelligence.
Despite IDF assurances that the vast majority of Hezbollah has already been cleared out of southern Lebanon, the terror group has retained the capacity for small guerilla warfare cells to ambush larger groups of IDF soldiers or to strike IDF soldiers from a distance beyond the Litani River with drones and rockets.
During the First Lebanon War in 1982 over 1,200 soldiers were killed, with over another 250 soldiers killed from 1982-2000 while the Israeli military occupied southern Lebanon.
To date, the IDF has said that it will hold onto southern Lebanon, which it retook control over in March, for an extended period even after an anticipated ceasefire with Hezbollah, but that it will not have as many soldiers remain in the area who might be ambushed, using air power for aspects of maintaining control.
Still, no Israeli official has articulated an exit strategy for Israel to leave southern Lebanon if Hezbollah refuses to disarm.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.