Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon drone strike

An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded, one critically, on Saturday when their military outpost was hit by a Hezbollah drone.
Israeli media said that the explosive drone launched from Lebanon struck a caravan sheltering the soldiers in the Margaliot area of northern Israel.

The Israeli army has frequently used explosive drones in the past 70 days to target militant sites in the border region.

Sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee after two drones were believed to have entered northern Israel airspace.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it had targeted a military site in Margaliot with “two attack aircraft.”

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media that air defenses intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon, while another was found after falling in the Margaliot area.

Hezbollah’s military media said in a statement that its fighters spotted Israeli troops entering two houses in the Al-Manara settlement on Saturday afternoon, and targeted the dwellings with “appropriate weapons, causing direct hits and leaving the soldiers either dead or wounded.”

War correspondents in southern Lebanon reported three airstrikes by Israeli aircraft on Jabal Blat in the western sector.

The Israeli army carried out eight airstrikes targeting the Al-Raheb area in Aita Al-Shaab, Khallet Warde, Salhaneh, Jabal Blat, and Ramyah, most of which are forested areas.

Hezbollah also targeted Israeli soldiers sheltering in a bunker at the Baraka Risha site with a guided missile early on Saturday.

The group said it targeted an Israeli infantry force near Baraka Risha for a second time “and achieved confirmed hits.”

Hezbollah mourned one of its fighters on Saturday, bringing the total number of its casualties to 104 since the beginning of military operations.

A Lebanese soldier was among five people killed in an Israeli attack on an army post.

A member of the Amal movement, another from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and two from Hezbollah-affiliated groups also died.

The total number of civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardment has now reached 17.

Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the town of Al-Khiyam, Tallet Al-Ruwaisa in Hula, the city of Rab El-Thalathine, Aita Al-Shaab, and the outskirts of Al-Khiyam, Blida, and Mays Al-Jabal.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was expected to arrive in Beirut on Saturday, but was forced to return to Paris because of an aircraft malfunction, according to the French Embassy in Lebanon.

The embassy confirmed the postponement of the visit.

Colonna is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Monday after visiting Israel the previous day.

Christophe Lemoine, deputy spokesperson for the foreign ministry, said on Friday that Colonna “will pass on messages during her visit to Lebanon and Israel to exercise self-restraint and act responsibly to contain the threat of a second front coinciding with the ongoing war in Gaza, to avoid the outbreak of a regional war.”

The US and France are involved in diplomatic efforts to prevent the situation in southern Lebanon from escalating.