Israeli Soldier Killed in Lebanon Rocket Attack

The Israeli military said a soldier was killed in rocket fire from Lebanon, while Lebanese official media said three civilians and a Hezbollah fighter were killed in a series of Israeli strikes.

While the rocket fire was not immediately claimed, the exchanges raised fears of a broader conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah movement, which have been trading near daily cross-border fire since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

The Israeli army said in a statement Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, was killed "as a result of a rocket launch carried out from Lebanese territory on a base in northern Israel".

Fighter jets struck a series of "Hezbollah targets" in several areas of south Lebanon including Adshit and Sawwaneh, the military said.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes targeted a house in Sawaneh with two strikes, "leading to its destruction" and the death of three members of the same family, identifying them as a Syrian woman and her child, aged two, and stepchild, 13.

Another Israeli attack targeting Adshit killed one person, who Hezbollah announced was one of its fighters, and wounded 10 others, destroying a building and causing significant damage nearby.

Emergency personnel deploy at the site of a deadly Israeli air strike in the southern Lebanese village of Adshit.

Fears have grown of another full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with tens of thousands displaced on both sides of the border amid soaring regional tensions.

Since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war on October 7, at least 243 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 30 civilians.