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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on April 21 that a reservist officer critically wounded in the Hezbollah drone and missile attack on the settlement of Arab al-Aramshe near the border with Lebanon last week had succumbed to his wounds.
The slain officer, who held the rank of a Major, was a deputy company commander in the Etzioni Brigade, according to a statement released by the IDF IDF.
At least 13 other soldiers and four civilians were wounded in the attack on April 17, during which Hezbollah launched two anti-tank guided missiles and a suicide drone from Lebanon, targeting a community center in Arab al-Aramshe where troops were based.
The attack was one of the most complicated operations carried out by Hezbollah since the group began launching attacks against the IDF from southern Lebanon to support the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip following the outbreak of the war there.
The IDF responded to the attacks by launching strikes against southern Lebanon, the heartland of Hezbollah, as well as the northeastern district of Balbaak, a stronghold of the group. However, this was not enough to deter the group.
Hezbollah launched more attacks against Israel on April 21. In separate statements, the group said its fighters targeted a building occupied by Israeli troops in the settlement of Shomera, fired Burkan heavy improvised rockets at gatherings in the Jal al-Alam site and targeted surveillance equipment of the IDF in the sites of Miskav Am, al-Malikiyah and the Doviev barracks.
The attacks were carried out in support of the Palestinian people and resistance in the Gaza Strip as well as in response to recent Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Hezbollah noted in its statements.
In addition, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that its branch in Lebanon fired 20 Grad rockets at the Shomera barracks in response to recent Israeli massacres in Gaza as well as in the occupied West Bank.
Hebrew media confirmed that several projectiles fired by Hezbollah and Hamas hit border sites and settlements. However, there were no reports of casualties.
Separately, Hezbollah’s Military media released videos showing a recent attack on surveillance equipment in the al-Radar site, a missile attack on an IDF Humvee in Metula and a strike on a building occupied by Israeli troops in the same settlement.
From its side, the IDF said on April 21 that it had carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Israeli fighter jets struck two buildings in the town of Ayta al-Shaab where the IDF said that Hezbollah fighters were gathered. The IDF added that additional Hezbollah sites were hit in the towns of Naqoura and Majdal Zoun. There were no reports of casualties in Lebanese media.
It also said that its artillery shelled a rocket launch site in the Rosh Hanikra area and later hit a Hezbollah position in the town of Qotrani in response to the attack.
The clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border gained momentum in the last few days. However, a serious escalation remains unlikely.
So far, the border clashes have resulted in eight civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of at least 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. On the Lebanese side, more than 400 people have been killed, including 267 fighters of Hezbollah and at least 70 civilians.
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