Army soldier killed as Israel strikes south Lebanon despite truce

The army said Wednesday that one of its soldiers was among two people killed in an Israeli strike in the country's south.

"A soldier and his brother were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted them in the town of Khirbet Selm in Bint Jbeil (district) while they were travelling on a motorbike" heading home from the soldier's post, the army statement said.

The Israeli army also struck Wednesday Kafra, al-Tiri, Burj Qalaway, Hinniyeh, Jwaya, Debaal, al-Mansouri, Baraashit and Hanine in south Lebanon and detonated houses in the border towns of Shamaa and Naqoura, despite an ongoing ceasefire.

Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed more than 13 people, including civil defense rescuers, women, and children.

Hezbollah for its part claimed an overnight attack on Israeli troops near Alma al-Shaab with a swarm of explosive drones. It later downed an Israeli Hermes drone over the southern border town of al-Qantara with a surface-to-air missile.

On three separate occasions on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it sought to intercept "a suspicious aerial target" where troops were operating.

It also said Hezbollah had launched a number of attack drones that detonated adjacent to Israeli soldiers, but nobody was hurt.

Hezbollah’s FPV drones are relatively inexpensive compared to other weapons, such as anti-tank guided missiles. Built largely from off-the-shelf components and 3D-printed parts, they typically carry RPG warheads. While plentiful, these warheads are only marginally effective against heavy Israeli armor; however, they have proven lethal against infantry.

The Israeli military currently lacks an effective defense against these explosive drones guided by fiber-optic cables, Israeli media reports say.