Israeli reservist, soldier killed in Lebanon and Gaza clashes

JERUSALEM

An Israeli reserve officer and a soldier were killed during ongoing military clashes in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced on Sunday.

According to a military statement, a 47-year-old reservist sergeant major serving in Battalion 8207, was killed in a firefight in southern Lebanon, along with four other soldiers, including three officers whose deaths had been reported earlier that morning.

The statement also confirmed the death of a soldier from the Givati Brigade who succumbed to injuries sustained nearly a week ago in Gaza.

These fatalities bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the conflict escalated on Oct. 7, 2023, to 771, with an additional 5,177 soldiers reported injured.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since last month against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel expanded the conflict this year by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul