Fourth Lebanese army soldier killed by Israeli fire in south Lebanon

The Lebanese army said Israeli fire killed a soldier on Wednesday, a day after it said three other personnel were killed in a strike on their position in south Lebanon.

South Lebanon has seen intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

A soldier "died of his wounds sustained due to the Israel army targeting of an army vehicle" in south Lebanon, a statement on X said, after reporting two personnel wounded in the incident near Qlayaa in south Lebanon.

On Tuesday, the military said three soldiers were killed when "the Israeli enemy targeted an army position in the town of Sarafand", where the health ministry said eight people were wounded.

AFP images showed destruction at the site in Sarafand on the Mediterranean coast, some 40 kilometers from the southern border, with a concrete structure destroyed and a vehicle among the debris.

Israel's military said Wednesday it was fighting the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, not the Lebanese army, after the four soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes.

"We emphasize that the (Israeli army) is operating precisely against the Hezbollah terrorist organization and is not operating against the Lebanon Armed Forces," the military told AFP in a statement.

The Lebanese army has not been an active participant in the fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah over the past 13 months, but more than 40 soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

Wissam Khalifeh, a resident of Sarafand who lives next to the army post and was injured in Tuesday's strike, said he was shocked that it was targeted.

“It’s a safe residential neighborhood. There is nothing here at all” that would present a target, he said. “Regarding the martyred soldiers, I don’t even know if there was a gun in the center. Why did this strike happen? We have no idea.”

Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its bombing campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops, after almost a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.

South Lebanon and the capital have seen heavy strikes in recent days, though the situation was calmer in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein visiting for truce talks.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported Israeli shelling and air strikes in south Lebanon overnight and on Wednesday, saying Israeli troops were seeking to advance further near the town of Khiam.

Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had attacked Israeli troops near the flashpoint border town.

The NNA also said that Israel forces were "attempting to advance from the Kfarshouba hills... to open up a new front under the cover of fire and artillery shells and air strikes".

"Violent clashes are taking place" between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, it added.

Hezbollah said it carried out several attacks on Israeli troops near the border Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it claimed more than 30 attacks on troops, positions and locations in central and northern Israel and south Lebanon.