Israeli soldier killed by Hezbollah drone near Lebanon border
The Israeli military said on Thursday that a soldier was killed the day before by a Hezbollah drone near the Lebanon border, taking to 24 the number of its troops killed in the war with the Iran-backed group.
A military statement named her as 20-year-old Sergeant Rotem Yanai, who "fell during operational activity in northern Israel".
It added that one reservist soldier was severely injured and another moderately so in the same incident.
The military told AFP that Yanai was killed by a Hezbollah explosive drone.
In mourning her death, Israel's far-right finance minister said the only way to stop the attacks was the large-scale destruction of Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway.
"You know that the only way, at this time, to prevent our soldiers from being harmed is to raze 10 buildings in Beirut's Dahiyeh for every drone," Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Telegram, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"For every drone that strikes one of our soldiers, we must destroy a hundred buildings," he added.
It came after the Israeli military said it had begun new strikes on Thursday morning targeting "Hezbollah infrastructure" around the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, after issuing an evacuation warning to its residents.
Israel the previous day declared all areas south of Lebanon's Zahrani River -- an area roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border -- as "combat zones" and told residents to evacuate ahead of attacks against Hezbollah.
A total of 24 Israelis have been killed since hostilities began on March 2, including 23 soldiers and one civilian contractor.
Lebanon's health ministry on Wednesday reported the overall death toll was 3,269, an increase of 56 from a day earlier following heavy Israeli strikes.
Despite a ceasefire declared in mid-April, Israel has continued its military operations in Lebanon, while Hezbollah regularly launches drones at Israeli troops and towards northern Israel.
Source: Agence France Presse
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