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On October 21, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that a reserve soldier was killed a day earlier by an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) that was fired from southern Lebanon.
The soldier was identified by Hebrew media as 22-years-old First Sergeant Omer Balva from the central Israeli city of Herzliya.
Hezbollah attacked several IDF sites in the occupied Shebaa Farms and Kfarchouba Hills with ATGMs and other direct fire means on October 20. The group’s Military Media released videos showing the destruction of surveillance equipment and a strike on a gathering of Israeli troops.
In response to the attacks, the IDF said that it had carried out a number of strikes on numerous Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The targets included a “series of military facilities used by the organization for operational needs” and an ATGM directed at Israel.
“The IDF is ready for all scenarios in the various sectors and will continue to act for the security of Israeli citizens,” the IDF said.
The new casualty brought the official number of Israeli soldiers killed in the clashes on the Lebanon front after the war in Gaza broke out to six. An Israeli civilian was also killed in an ATGM strike claimed by Hezbollah. Israeli losses could be higher, but the IDF’s strict censorship makes any reports of casualties impossible to verify.
From its side, Hezbollah has so far lost 13 of its fighters to IDF strikes. Four Lebanese civilians, including two journalists, were also killed. In addition, five Palestinian fighters were killed while carrying out raids from southern Lebanon. An unidentified fighter was also killed after infiltrating the separation line and opening fire at Israeli troops.
Hezbollah and its allies, including the Hamas Movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, began launching attacks from southern Lebanon just a day after the October 7 surprise attack against Israel to ease pressure off Gaza.
Clashes on the Lebanon front will likely continue as long as Israel is bombing Gaza. Any invasion of the Strip could lead to an even more serious escalation.
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