At least one Israeli soldier killed, two injured in Hezbollah drone strike

At least one Israeli soldier has been killed and two others sustained injuries after fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement launched an operation targeting the Tel Aviv regime's military positions and equipment inside the occupied territories.

In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli army said Hezbollah forces struck one of its positions in the northern part of the occupied lands the previous day with a kamikaze drone, killing a soldier.

It identified the soldier as 20-year-old Sergeant Rotem Yanai.

It added that one reservist soldier was severely injured and another moderately injured in the same incident.

A total of 24 Israeli soldiers and settlers have been killed since hostilities between Hezbollah and the Tel Aviv regime began on March 2, including 23 troops.

The Israeli military on Wednesday declared all areas south of Lebanon's Zahrani River, an area located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, as "combat zones" and told residents to evacuate ahead of attacks against Hezbollah.

The sweeping warning was the first of its kind since the April 17 ceasefire.

Hezbollah’s recent deployment of fiber-optic cable-controlled First-Person View (FPV) drones, which are resistant to jamming by electronic warfare systems, has allowed the movement to bypass the IOF’s advanced and very expensive defense technologies.

These drones have caused significant casualties among IOF soldiers by accurately targeting troop gatherings, tanks and other military assets while evading radar and heat detection.

The combination of extremely low cost and high effectiveness represents a major tactical shift for Hezbollah, moving away from sole reliance on anti-tank guided missiles while consistently inflicting losses on the occupation regime’s military.

The Hebrew-language Maariv daily newspaper has termed Hezbollah's drones "a terrifying nightmare," arguing that the regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is losing the northern sector of the occupied territories to the Lebanese resistance group.

Maariv described Netanyahu as a lame duck, stressing that the nightmare originating from southern Lebanon is now plaguing all of the occupied territories.

It noted that unmanned aircraft similar to Hezbollah's FPV drones could be launched from the occupied West Bank, the besieged Gaza Strip or anywhere else.

Maariv added that the Israeli military has spread out thousands of square meters of netting in a bid to catch incoming Hezbollah drones, and troops stationed in southern Lebanon are seeking to take refuge from the aircraft.

Official: Hezbollah will not engage in confrontation with Lebanese army

A senior Hezbollah official says the resistance movement will never engage in a confrontation with the Lebanese army.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced on Thursday that it carried out 37 attacks targeting Israeli forces and military positions in southern Lebanon and the northern flank of the occupied territories over the past 24 hours, saying the operations were conducted in defense of Lebanon and in response to Israeli ceasefire violations.

The attacks included explosive drone strikes, rocket barrages and anti-tank missile fire targeting Israeli troop gatherings, military vehicles and military sites.

The Lebanese group said it targeted an Iron Dome platform at the Jal al-Allam military site on the northern side of the occupied lands with explosive drones, and struck several Merkava tanks and military engineering vehicles.

The group also said its fighters engaged Israeli forces at close range in Zawtar al-Sharqiya, forcing them to retreat before Israeli forces launched heavy bombardment in the area.

Hezbollah added that one drone attack targeted Israeli soldiers at the Galilee Forest camp, while another struck a tent housing Israeli troops in Naqoura.

Since March 2, shortly after the latest war on Iran began, Israel has been conducting an expanded war on Lebanon, killing more than 3,200 people, injuring over 9,600 and displacing over 1.6 million individuals.

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