The Israeli military issued a wider evacuation zone for southern Lebanon on Thursday as its forces continue a ground operation against Hezbollah terrorists, officials said.
The Israeli Defence Forces warned those living in the communities north of the Litani River to flee the area following some 200 strikes against Hezbollah targets in the south.
The new evacuation perimeter goes further beyond the buffer zone established by the United Nations Security Council during the 2006 war, suggesting the current conflict will spread further into Lebanon.
This comes after a Lebanese soldier was killed on Thursday by an Israeli airstrike while evacuating people in southern Lebanon, a first since the conflict began, officials said.
The soldier was at a military post aiding in the evacuation effort when an alleged Israeli strike killed him and left four paramedics injured, according to Lebanese security sources and the Red Cross.
The blast resulted in soldiers at the station opening fire in the direction of the strike, the first time the Lebanese army has fired at Israeli troops following orders to abandon the border area earlier this week ahead of the IDF’s invasion.
The IDF did not immediately respond to the allegations, but officials said they were looking into the incident.
The Red Cross said the slain soldier was part of an evacuation convoy in the village of Taybeh, which should have been cleared from any attack as it was coordinated with UN peacekeeping efforts.
Lebanese officials have condemned Israel’s bombing campaign in southern Lebanon that has caused more than 160,00 people to flee the nation, but Beirut has shown no willingness to aid the Hezbollah terrorists fight off the IDF’s advancements in the region.
It remains unclear if Lebanon’s stance will change following the death of the soldier.
If the Lebanese army were to get involved, it would complicate an already hectic battle for the IDF after confirming the death of eight soldiers on Wednesday during its ground raids into Lebanon.
By Thursday, the IDF confirmed the death of its ninth soldier, Cpt. Ben Zion Falach, 21, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion.
Israeli officials said the raids are aimed at taking out Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure to finally end the daily missile barrages that have left tens of thousands displaced in northern Israel.
Hezbollah claims it has managed to repel several Israeli raids, including an attempted attack near the Farima Gate border crossing and near the town of Maroun Al-Ras.
The terrorists have also fired more than 200 rockets and drones on Thursday to continue pressuring the Israeli advancements, according to the IDF.
Meanwhile, the IDF has continued its own barrage against Hezbollah, firing at least three airstrikes at Beirut targeting Hezbollah’s main headquarters in the city’s southern suburbs.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vowed to continue the attacks until Israel is assured the terror group has nowhere to return to in southern Lebanon, according to a Times of Israel translation.
“[To] return of the residents, [we must] destroy the terror infrastructure that Hezbollah built near the border to raid our towns on the day that the order is given [and] kill Israeli civilians,” Halevi said.
“We are very determined to destroy these infrastructures and kill whoever is there. We will not allow Hezbollah to position itself in these places in the future,” he added.
As it addresses the threat from Hezbollah, Israel is also working with the United States in planning its looming retaliatory attack on Iran following the ballistic missile barrage Tehran fired on Tuesday.
While US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said America does not endorse further escalation in the already tense region, he said the US backs Israel’s decision to response in an appropriate manner.
“We will continue to discuss with Israel what the shape of their response will be,” Miller told reporters. “I’m not going to air all of those discussions privately, but we have made very clear that this was an unprecedented escalation by Iran.
“Israel has a right to respond to it and we’ll discuss that response with them,” he added.
With Post wires
