Israeli Navy soldier killed in Iron Dome, Hezbollah drone incident in North

The IDF announced on Sunday that a sailor on a Dvora vessel, Third Petty Officer David Moshe Ben Shitrit, was killed in an incident involving a Hezbollah drone and an Iron Dome interceptor which had been fired to shoot down the drone in the vicinity of the ship.

The vessel and other naval vessels are providing a mix of northern security roles.

At around three to four kilometers from the coast close to the Israeli-Lebanese border, the Dvora was protecting the coast from physical invasion, helping identify threats from Hezbollah, and helping shoot down some threats.

Drone did not hit vessel

So far, the IDF is considering whether the interceptor was following one or more drones and accidentally hit the vessel or whether the interceptor hit a Hezbollah drone, and shrapnel from the drone being shot down hit the vessel.

The IDF said it was clear that the drone itself did not hit the Dvora before being shot down.

Subsequently, Ben Shitrit was evacuated to a smaller fast boat to bring him to the coast where he was placed in an ambulance and brought to Nahariya Medical Center.

He was declared dead after attempts to resuscitate him failed.

One other naval soldier was lightly wounded, and an additional soldier was moderately wounded.

The ship returned to the Haifa naval port where the small part of the ship which was damaged is currently being fixed.

The Dvora is expected to return to sea within 24-48 hours.