The IDF cleared for publication Thursday that Sgt. Liem Ben Hamo, 19, from Herzliya, a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, was killed in combat in southern Lebanon by an explosive drone. Another soldier was moderately wounded in the incident. Since the start of Operation Roaring Lion in late February, 16 IDF soldiers have been killed in Lebanon.
Earlier Thursday, 12 IDF soldiers were wounded when an explosive drone directly hit a military vehicle near Moshav Shomera in the Western Galilee. Two were moderately wounded and the rest lightly hurt. The drone targeted an artillery battery, and the vehicle hit was an Alpha armored personnel carrier used to transport artillery shells.
Hezbollah also downed an IDF Zik, or Hermes 450, drone in the Nabatieh area after firing a surface-to-air missile. The IDF said the incident was under review and that there was no concern of an information leak. Sirens warning of hostile aircraft sounded throughout the day in the Galilee.
Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo and Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shay Kleper later met with local authority heads from border communities, who criticized the expectation that civilian life continue as normal despite repeated drone and rocket attacks.
Kleper said protection guidelines would be reviewed. Milo said no one knew how long the current reality would last, adding that IDF forces were operating in a new security zone and clearing terror infrastructure from villages in southern Lebanon.