Israel apologizes for death of Lebanese soldier in artillery fire aimed at Hezbollah

Israel officially apologized on Tuesday for the death of a Lebanese army soldier through artillery fire that was aimed at Hezbollah terrorists.

"Earlier, IDF fighters acted to neutralize a concrete threat detected on Lebanese territory. The threat was detected at a Hezbollah launch and observation complex... Lebanese army forces were not the target of the attack. The IDF regrets the incident and it is being investigated," the IDF stated.

The Lebanese army announced the death of a soldier and injuries to three others following Israeli artillery fire near the town of al-Adisa, which came in response to a threat posed by Hezbollah terror forces.

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is the country’s regular army but has no authority over its southern territory, which is controlled by the much larger and better-equipped terror organization Hezbollah.

The LAF so far hasn’t been involved in the daily border skirmishes between Israel and the terror group, which started soon after the murderous Hamas assault against Israel on Oct. 7.

In response to the incident, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced that he would inform the United Nations of the death of the soldier at the hands of Israel and seek a diplomatic solution.

"Lebanon is not interested in war," he said.

Meanwhile, a French delegation of senior diplomats is expected to arrive in Israel this week to try to reach a diplomatic solution to the tensions on Israel's northern border, Israel’s Channel 13 news reported on Tuesday.

The delegation’s declared goal is to prevent the start of war with Hezbollah by negotiating the removal of its forces from the border per UN Resolution 1701, a demand that Israeli officials have repeatedly made in recent weeks.

At the time of publication, Hezbollah had taken responsibility for ten attacks against Israel on Tuesday, targeting the areas of Zar’it and Arab al-Aramshe, among others.

No substantial damage was reported as a result of the attacks and the Israeli army responded by shelling the launch areas.

The IDF also stated that a hostile aircraft that had crossed over the border was found on the ground in the area of Margaliot by a citizen.

IDF sappers were rushed to the scene to defuse potential explosives, however, no damage was reported from the incident.

In retaliation for the attacks originating from Lebanese territory, the Israeli Air Force struck a series of targets in southern Lebanon, destroying terrorist infrastructure, positions, and military sites where weapons were being stored.