A soldier in the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade was killed Friday night by Hezbollah rocket fire targeting forces operating in southern Lebanon, the military said.
The soldier was identified as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, 22, a fighter in the 890th Battalion. Katz, a member of the Hasidic Chabad movement, lived in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to Israel to enlist.
The IDF said three additional soldiers were moderately wounded in the same incident.
In a separate incident Friday, one officer was seriously wounded and another moderately wounded by anti-tank missile fire during an encounter in southern Lebanon. All were evacuated to a hospital for treatment, and their families were notified.
Katz’s father, Mendy Katz, wrote in a Facebook post that his son was the eldest of his children and had “a zest for life and jokes.”
“With unspeakable tragedy I regret to inform you that my 22-year-old son Moshe Yitzchak, a sergeant in the IDF, fell in battle in Lebanon,” he wrote. “My oldest son, with a zest for life and jokes. Burial is tomorrow in Israel. Maybe we only share good news.”
“My heart is shattered and the wound is real,” he added. “May he be a malitz yosher for only good things.”
Hezbollah has directed roughly 70% of its fire toward IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon and about 30% toward Israeli territory, according to military assessments. Hundreds of rockets are launched daily by the terrorist organization toward forces maneuvering under sustained threat.
Air defense systems assist troops, though in some cases soldiers must take cover in armored vehicles or nearby structures.
Rocket and drone fire continued overnight toward northern communities. Sirens sounded across the Galilee, and a missile launched toward the Carmel area was intercepted. Alerts were also activated in Yokneam, Zichron Yaakov and Pardes Hanna-Karkur.
Since the start of the fighting along the Lebanon front, eight people have been killed — five soldiers and three civilians. Among the most recent fatalities were Uri Peretz, 43, from Nahariya, who was killed Thursday by a direct rocket hit, Sgt. Aviad Elhanan Wolanski, killed the same day by anti-tank fire in southern Lebanon, and Staff Sgt. Uri Greenberg, who was killed overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
IDF operations in Lebanon are ongoing, with forces deployed in forward and defensive positions along the border. More than 1 million people have been displaced, including about 600,000 from southern Lebanon, most of them Shiites. Officials in Israel have said residents will not be able to return until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The military has also sought to highlight Hezbollah’s use of civilian areas, while continuing strikes against the group and applying pressure on the Lebanese government to enforce the original ceasefire agreement from November 2024.