Drone attacks carried out by Hezbollah against Israeli army positions on the northern border continue, at a time when Israeli figures reveal the extent of the escalating attrition since the “ceasefire” entered into force. The most recent strike was the killing of an Israeli female soldier and the injury of a number of soldiers as a result of an attack with booby-trapped drones near the Lebanese border.
According to Israeli reports published by journalists Itay Blumenthal and Carmela Menashe on the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, in addition to a report by Or Ravid and Sharon Knoblich on Channel 12, the soldier Rotem Yanai, 20 years old from the town of Givat Ada, was killed yesterday as a result of the explosion of a booby-trapped drone launched by Hezbollah towards a military site near the Shomera settlement in the Western Galilee adjacent to the Lebanese border.
The Israeli army explained that Yanai, who was working as a social support officer in the “Rotem” battalion of the “Givati” Brigade, was critically injured while heading to a protected area despite wearing personal protective equipment, before the medical staff later announced her death.
According to the Israeli preliminary investigation, Hezbollah launched three explosive drones towards the Shomera area. The first drone exploded and caused a fire in an open area, which required the intervention of members of the emergency unit in the neighboring Goren settlement, using a four-wheel-drive vehicle equipped with a fire-extinguishing tank.
But minutes later, two additional drones were launched, one of which directly hit the military site, killing Rotem Yanai and wounding two reservist soldiers with moderate to serious injuries. They were transferred to Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, while 3 other soldiers were slightly injured.
It was also reported that two soldiers from the Golani Brigade were slightly injured as a result of an anti-tank missile that targeted an Israeli force during operations in southern Lebanon within the eastern sector.
With the killing of Yanai, the number of deaths of the Israeli army since the start of the “ceasefire” in Lebanon has risen to 12, including 8 who were killed as a result of attacks by bomb-laden drones carried out by Hezbollah, in addition to one civilian.
The operation comes just two days after the announcement of the killing of soldier Nehurai Laser (19 years old) from Eilat, a member of the 601st Engineering Battalion of the 401st Brigade, following a similar attack with a booby-trapped drone in southern Lebanon.
Last week also witnessed the killing of Sergeant Noam Hamburger (23 years old) from Atlit, after a booby-trapped drone exploded inside a military site in Burnet near the Lebanese border, in an incident that also resulted in the injury of a soldier and another military member.
These attacks reflect the increasing effectiveness of booby-trapped drones in the ongoing battle on the northern front, as Hezbollah appears to have succeeded in turning this weapon into a daily drain on the Israeli army, even under what is supposed to be a “ceasefire.”
