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By Bernie,
Sgt. Liem Ben Hamo, 19, from Herzliya, a fighter in the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, was killed this morning in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in Qantara in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced. Another soldier was moderately wounded in the same strike, and both were evacuated by an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital. Ben Hamo is the fourth IDF soldier killed in southern Lebanon since the April 17 ceasefire took effect, the second killed in a direct Hezbollah attack, and the 47th casualty from the 13th Battalion since the start of the campaign.
The attack took place at around 10:20 a.m. local time, when Hezbollah launched a wave of explosive-laden drones at Israeli forces. One drone struck troops from the 13th Battalion operating in open ground near Qantara, scoring a direct hit. A second drone launched in the same attack was neutralized by the forces. The drone that struck the troops is believed to have been a fiber-optic-guided model, of the type that Israeli forces have struggled to intercept in recent weeks in southern Lebanon. Israeli Channel 14 reported that Hezbollah simultaneously launched eight explosive drones at Israeli forces from multiple locations in southern Lebanon this morning, including toward an Israeli artillery position.
Earlier today, 12 IDF soldiers were wounded in a separate Hezbollah explosive drone strike on a military vehicle near the northern community of Shomera, with two moderately wounded and 10 lightly hurt. The drone targeted an artillery battery, striking an Alpha armored personnel carrier used to transport artillery shells, igniting a fire and reportedly triggering secondary explosions of ammunition inside. Hezbollah also downed an IDF Hermes 450 drone in the Nabatieh area after firing a surface-to-air missile, with the IDF saying the incident is under review and that there is no concern of an information leak.
Topics: Lebanon & Hezbollah, Missile Defense & Alerts, IDF
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