The battle for Bint Jbeil started on 24 July when Israeli forces approached the nearby town of Aynata from the east and approached the Sadr district. Five Golani soldiers were wounded by friendly fire, and two tanks were sent to evacuate them. The first tank was hit by a missile, killing the platoon commander and wounding two of the crewmen. The second tank, a Merkava IV, ran over a powerful remote-controlled mine and rolled over from the blast. One of the crew was killed and the commander of the 52nd battalion, Lt.-Col. Guy Kabili, as well as his deputy, was wounded. An armor-plated D-9 bulldozer that attempted to rescue the casualties was forced to retreat after being hit by a missile. The wounded were finally evacuated under the cover of a smoke-screen. Altogether the IDF lost 2 killed and 18 wounded in the clashes. Five Hezbollah soldiers were also killed during the fighting. One of them, Marwan Samahat, was killed in the clashes in eastern Aynata. Another four soldiers were killed in southern Bint Jbeil, near the Maslakh mosque.