IDF announces death of soldier in Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel
Three more soldiers lightly wounded in 50-rocket barrage on Avivim that killed Sgt. Ariel Sasonov; Israel strikes Beirut, Beqaa Valley after issuing evacuation notices
A soldier was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on northern Israel Wednesday, the army said Thursday, as overnight airstrikes rocked the terror group’s positions in Beirut and the Beqaa Valley.
The slain soldier was named as Sgt. Ariel Sosnov, 20, of the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, from Jerusalem. He is the military’s 62nd casualty in the fighting with Hezbollah since October 2023.
Sosnov was killed by an impact amid a barrage of some 50 rockets on the border community of Avivim. Three other soldiers were lightly injured, the army said.
Several large airstrikes early Thursday hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, Hezbollah’s stronghold. One strike hit a site adjacent to Lebanon’s international airport. There was no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.
The IDF had earlier issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying that there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details. Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday. Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV reported there were at least four strikes on Thursday.
The army said some 60 Hezbollah operatives were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on about 20 targets in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek and other areas north of the Litani River.
The military said air force had over the past day struck dozens of Hezbollah targets, including a rocket launcher used in an attack on central Israel, weapon depots and other infrastructure.
Troops of the 91st and 36th divisions continued to operate in southern Lebanon, the army said. In the past day, troops killed Hezbollah operatives and demolished sites belonging to the terror group, including rocket launchers and weapon depots.
Wednesday’s airstrikes on the Beqaa Vally killed 40 people and wounded 53 around the eastern city of Baalbek, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which did not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Since early last week, the IDF has been striking Hezbollah targets in various areas in the Baalbek-Hermel province, after having issued several evacuation warnings for the entire city of Baalbek and its surroundings.
Bachir Khodr, the governor of the province, said the Wednesday airstrikes landed dangerously close to Baalbek’s UNESCO-listed Roman ruins, a revered heritage site with some of the largest and best-preserved Roman temples outside of Rome itself.
“This is the closest raid on Baalbek Temple since the beginning of the aggression, as a missile fell inside the castle’s parking lot,” he said on X. “The temple has not yet been inspected to determine if there is any damage inside it.”
Footage captured by a resident in Baalbek showed thick smoke rising from the impact site, with panic gripping the scene as she repeatedly says, “[It hit] right at the temple.”
Concerns have been mounting that further strikes may impact the ancient temples, which have survived nearly two millennia. The ruins were included in a map of areas to be evacuated that the IDF issued weeks ago.
Israel stepped up its offensive on Hezbollah in Lebanon in late September, aiming to make it safe for some 60,000 displaced residents of northern Israel to go home.
Out of fear Hezbollah would invade northern Israel, the residents were evacuated after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed the south on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
A day later, Hezbollah-led forces began attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border. The Iran-backed terror group has said its near-daily attacks were in support of Gaza amid the war there.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 41 civilians. In addition, 62 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
The Lebanese health ministry announced on Monday that the country’s death toll in the Israel-Hezbollah war had crossed 3,000. The figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The IDF estimates that some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups have also been reported killed in Lebanon.
