Death of a female soldier near the Lebanese border raises Israel’s death toll to 24 since March

The Israeli army announced on Thursday the death, on Wednesday, of a female soldier following a drone attack launched by Hezbollah near the border with Lebanon, bringing the total number of Israeli deaths to 24 soldiers since the beginning of March.

In a brief statement, the army said: “Sergeant Rotem Yanai, aged 20, was killed during a military operation in northern Israel.”

An army spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the sergeant was killed in a strike carried out by a drone launched by Hezbollah.

Earlier, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that “the only way currently to protect our soldiers from being targeted is to demolish ten buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut for every drone launched by Hezbollah,” calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “let the Israeli army continue fighting until victory.”

The Israeli army carried out strikes at dawn on the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, saying it targeted “infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah,” hours after declaring large areas up to forty kilometers from the border a “combat zone.”

The total Israeli death toll has risen to 24, including 23 soldiers and one civilian working for the army, since the resumption of clashes with the Iran-backed Hezbollah in early March. Of these, 22 were killed on Lebanese territory.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 3,269 people since March 2, according to the latest figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Neither side is complying with the ceasefire announced on April 17, as Israel continues military operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which keeps launching drones at Israeli forces and settlements in northern Israel.