Israel strikes deep in south as Hezbollah drone kills soldier, wounds 2
An Israeli drone on Saturday bombed a deserted room in a residential neighborhood in the Nabatieh district town of Houmine al-Tahta, which lies around 40 kilometers away from the nearest border point, in a significant escalation of hostilities, the National News Agency said.
The strike did not cause any casualties according to the town's mayor.
The development came after the Israeli army said it intercepted a surface-to-air missile that was fired from Lebanon at one of its drones that was in Lebanese airspace. The army noted that the drone was not hit and that the surface-to-air missile did not cross into Israeli airspace.
This is not the first time that Israel strikes deep in south Lebanon in response to the firing of such missiles at its drones.
The Israeli army also said that a soldier was killed and two others wounded on the Lebanese border, with a spokesperson confirming the casualties were caused by a "hostile aircraft." Hezbollah had earlier claimed responsibility for sending the drone.
"Sergeant Major (reservist) Yehezkel Azaria, from Petah Tikva... fell during an operational activity in the Margaliot area, aged 53 at the time of his death," the army said in a statement.
A military spokesperson confirmed to AFP that two soldiers were also wounded in the attack. The army had reported the incursion earlier in the day, saying that air defences "intercepted a hostile aircraft that crossed from Lebanon into Israel."
"An additional hostile aircraft that crossed from Lebanon was identified and fell in Margaliot... In response, IDF artillery is striking in Lebanon," it added.
Azaria is the seventh Israeli soldier to be killed on Lebanese border since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Since October 8, the day after the war started, the frontier has seen deadly exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Hamas.
On Friday, residents said the Israeli army dropped leaflets on parts of southern Lebanon for the first time since hostilities flared, warning them not to help Hezbollah.
Since the cross-border exchanges began, more than 120 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, three of them journalists, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, four civilians have been killed in addition to the seven soldiers, authorities have said.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
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