Army soldier killed as Israel strikes south Lebanon despite truce
A Lebanese army soldier was killed Wednesday along with his brother in an Israeli strike that targeted the motorcycle on which they were traveling from the soldier’s work post to his home in the village of al-Sowaneh, the army said in a statement.
"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, the army statement said.
The Lebanese army has stood on the sidelines during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, which began on March 2 when the militant group launched a salvo of missiles into Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on Iran. But soldiers have frequently gotten caught in the crossfire.
A total of 20 Lebanese army soldiers have been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2, most of them while en route to or from their duty stations, the army said. Altogether, more than 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon during the war and during a shaky ceasefire implemented earlier this month that has reduced but not halted the fighting.
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 and targeted Merkava tanks there with two attack drones.
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.
Source: Naharnet
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