\u201cThe IDF and Defense Ministry extend their condolences to the family,\u201d the army added.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah has been stepping up its use of explosive unmanned aerial vehicles, triggering repeated sirens in northern communities in recent days, including on Tuesday evening. The drones have also targeted Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon, killing one soldier earlier this week and severely wounding another<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n \t Amid the repeated drone attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video saying that two weeks ago, he ordered a \u201cspecial project\u201d to counter the growing threat of Hezbollah UAVs, adding that \u201cit will take time \u2013 but we will take care of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu noted that Israeli forces destroyed<\/a> a \u201cmassive Hezbollah terror tunnel\u201d on Tuesday during operations against the Lebanese group, adding that troops are \u201cdestroying their terror infrastructure\u201d and \u201ckilling dozens of their operatives \u2013 and there is more to come.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said the IDF was operating across multiple areas in Lebanon, including \u201csouth of the Litani, north of the Litani, [and] in the Beqaa Valley in northern Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the health ministry reported late Tuesday that an alleged Israeli strike on a Lebanese army patrol killed five people, including three paramedics, and wounded two soldiers. The Lebanese ministry said the toll was preliminary.<\/p>\n The strike was in the southern town of Majdal Zoun, near the coastal city of Tyre.<\/p>\n Israeli forces hit an army patrol that was accompanying civil defense medical teams and bulldozers during a rescue operation at the site of a previous Israeli strike, the Lebanese army and civil defense said. Some of the responders were trapped under rubble by the second strike, they said.<\/p>\n The IDF did not immediately comment on the incident, which was condemned by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who argued it was part of a pattern of Israeli attacks on rescue and emergency workers in violation of international law. Israel accuses Hezbollah of embedding itself in the civilian population, including using medical facilities and vehicles for cover.<\/p>\n The Western-backed Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines during the recent conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, although dozens of its soldiers have been killed.<\/p>\n \t The fighting on Tuesday came despite an ongoing ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump said last week would be extended by three weeks while noting that Israel could carry out strikes in Lebanon in self-defense.<\/p>\n Since Hezbollah began firing at Israel on March 2, breaking a ceasefire reached in November 2024, two Israeli civilians have been killed in the attacks and 16 IDF soldiers have died fighting in Lebanon, along with Hujirat.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s health ministry says that more than 2,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes during the same period, a figure that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The IDF has said that it has killed over 1,900 Hezbollah operatives since hostilities escalated.<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tSmoke rises from the site of explosions detonated by Israeli troops in the southern Lebanese village of Arnoun on April 28, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777432331_63_AFP__20260418__A89H3AX__v2__HighRes__TopshotLebanonIsraelIranUsWarUn-e1776523022329-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrtative: A French contingent of UNIFIL peacekeepers patrols the area as displaced residents waving Hezbollah flags make their way back to their homes on a makeshift road, built at the site where the Qasmieh bridge was destroyed in Israeli strikes, in the southern Lebanese area of al-Qasmiyeh on April 18, 2026. (Mahmoud Zayyat\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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