Israel kills three more Lebanese soldiers in a bombing in the south of the country
The Lebanese army has reported that three of its soldiers have been killed in an Israeli airstrike while carrying out an operation to evacuate wounded in the town of Yater, in southern Lebanon. It is the second similar incident in less than a week and the US has expressed its “concern” that the Israeli attacks claim victims among the Lebanese military, against whom the Israeli army is not fighting.
“The Israeli enemy attacked Lebanese Army personnel on the outskirts of the southern town of Yater, Bint Jbeil, while carrying out an operation to evacuate the wounded, resulting in the death of three martyrs, including an officer,” reads a statement published through his profile on the social network X.
The incident occurs just a few days after the Israeli army was forced to apologize for the death of three other Lebanese soldiers in a bombing last Sunday. Israel assured that its soldiers deployed in Lebanon “do not operate against the Lebanese army” and that they were not aware that the attacked vehicle was property of the Armed Forces.
Before learning of the latest incident, the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, had expressed his “deep concern” about Israel’s attacks against the Lebanese Army, in reference to the three deaths over the weekend. In total, the Israeli offensive in Lebanon has caused the death of eight regular Lebanese soldiers.
Austin expressed this concern in a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to whom he highlighted the importance of adopting “all necessary measures to guarantee the security” of both the Lebanese Armed Forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( FINUL).
