The Israeli army expressed regret over the “injury” of Lebanese soldiers caused by what it described as a “technical malfunction” that occurred during a strike in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

On Thursday evening, the Lebanese army announced that an officer and a soldier had been killed, while two others were wounded, following the fall and explosion of an Israeli drone in the Ras Naqoura area, in southern Lebanon.

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In its Friday statement, the Israeli army explained that it had targeted “an engineering vehicle in the Naqoura area, southern Lebanon, which was preparing to reconstruct Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.”

It added that “during the raid, a technical malfunction prevented the detonation of the ammunition, which fell to the ground. Later reports indicated that members of the Lebanese army were injured.”

The statement did not mention the two fatalities confirmed by the Lebanese army, only noting that “an investigation is underway to determine whether the incident resulted from the explosion of Israeli weapons.”

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“The army expresses its regret for the injuries sustained by Lebanese soldiers, and an inquiry will be conducted,” the communiqué stated.

The Israeli military stressed that “the strike came in response to Hezbollah’s attempts to rebuild terrorist infrastructure in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and that it was not intended to target Lebanese soldiers.”

Under the ceasefire reached last November to end more than a year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese army has been deployed in the south to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure, supported by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

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Reacting to the incident, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that “the army once again pays the price in blood to preserve stability in the south.” He noted that this was the fourth incident in which soldiers had been killed since the army’s deployment south of the Litani River.

Earlier this month, six Lebanese soldiers were killed in an explosion at an arms depot near the border, which a military source said belonged to Hezbollah.

This latest incident coincided with the UN Security Council’s decision to extend UNIFIL’s mandate, alongside international calls for Israel to halt its attacks, withdraw from occupied territories, and enable the Lebanese army to fully extend its authority up to the international borders.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam offered his condolences and reiterated “the government’s full solidarity with the military institution,” describing the army as “the guarantor of security, the bulwark of sovereignty, and the backbone of national unity.”

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