Lebanon drone kills IDF soldier; Hezbollah, IDF continue tensions

The IDF announced that Master Sergeant (res) Yehezkel Azaria, 53 years old from Petah Tikva, fell during operations on the northern border with Lebanon on Saturday.

In fact, Azaria, a fighter in the 129th Battalion, was killed in connection with a drone which had penetrated into Israel, which fell on him in the Margaliot area near Lebanon.

Two other IDF soldiers were also wounded during the incident.

The drone was one of two drones which penetrated Israeli territory on Saturday.

One of the drones was shot down by the IDF, while the other crashed and started a fire.

Alarms sounded in Israel's north on Saturday morning indicating the intrusion of hostile aircraft into Israeli airspace.

The Upper Galilee Regional Council later confirmed that a drone was identified in Israel's Hula Valley region.

IDF response to drone infiltrations

The IDF subsequently released a statement on the event, noting that air defense systems intercepted a drone that had infiltrated into Israeli territory from Lebanon. The IDF also confirmed the Upper Galilee Regional Council report, stating that a second drone crashed into the Margaliot area.

The IDF responded to the drone infiltrations with artillery fire at targets in Lebanese territory.

Later, the Israeli Northern District’s fire and rescue services said that the drone that had crashed in the Margaliot area had caused a fire in a local building.

Two firefighting teams subsequently worked to extinguish the blaze, managing to do so as they worked alongside IDF personnel at the scene to search for injured individuals and prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby forest.

On Saturday afternoon, the IDF announced that air force jets had struck a series of Hezbollah targets inside Lebanese territory.

The targets hit by the IDF included rocket launch sites and military infrastructure.

Two suspicious individuals who were operating in a known Hezbollah launch site were also hit, the IDF added.

Also, later Saturday night the IDF said that a surface to air missile was fired from Lebanon against an IDF drone.

The missile missed and landed in Lebanon.

On Friday, the IDF air force aircraft, combat jets, and artillery had destroyed several Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon.

Among the Hezbollah military positions targeted was a launch site from which rockets had been fired at northern Israel earlier in the day, the military stated.

Several rocket alerts sounded in northern Israel on Friday, after which the IDF claims it identified a number of launches originating from Lebanon.

The IDF said that some of these launches were intercepted.

IDF air defense systems often do not target incoming rockets that it identifies as having a trajectory indicating an impact site in open, unpopulated areas.

Additionally, the IDF said on Friday that Israeli air defense capabilities had downed another suspicious aerial target before it succeeded in crossing into Israeli territory from Lebanon.

Further, a drone originating from within Lebanese territory on Friday fell near an IDF post near the Israeli border community of Menara, north of Kiryat Shmona.

Also on Friday, the IDF announced that both regular and reservist troops have been taking part in a military exercise dubbed “Valuable Time,” in northern Israel over the course of the Gaza war in preparation for combat scenarios that could take place near the border with Lebanon.

The military noted that the troops engaged in the training activities have been doing so as they carry out live operational activities, adding that such training boosts the soldiers’ readiness for various scenarios that could take place in the north.

Later on Friday evening, the IDF spokesperson announced that the Israeli military had hit another series of Hezbollah targets inside Lebanese territory.

Responding to more rocket launches from Lebanon, the IDF said the air force hit Hezbollah terror infrastructure, military sites, and a command center.

The IDF also hit an additional site where Hezbollah had fired rockets that crossed into Israel, triggering alarms in the Golan Heights area of Shaba Farms.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Hamas fired rockets at the Jerusalem area for the first time in several weeks, and maintained rocket fire both Friday and Saturday on southern Israel.

The general trend of decreased rocket fire from the South continued, though the average rocket fire sirens per day has plateaued at around 20-30 per day, and not dropped off further in several days.

Most rockets now are being fired only from Rafah in the deep south of Gaza, and not from northern Gaza or from Khan Younis of southern Gaza.