Lebanon condemns 'killing' of two soldiers in Israeli drone blast in the south

Two Lebanese army members died on Thursday after a fallen Israeli drone they were inspecting in south Lebanon exploded.

The drone fell in Ras al-Naqoura, the southernmost point on Lebanon's shoreline close to the border with Israel.

The army said in a statement Thursday evening that "while army personnel were investigating an Israeli enemy drone after it fell in the Naqoura area, it exploded, leading to the martyrdom of an officer and a soldier, and the wounding of two other personnel."

It identified the casualties as First Lieutenant Muhammad Ismail and First Adjutant Rifaat Al-Taimi.

"The army is once again paying, in blood, the price of maintaining stability in the south," said President Joseph Aoun, as he was briefed on the details of the incident by Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal.

Aoun, former military chief before his January election, noted that this was the fourth incident in which soldiers have died since they began deploying south of the Litani River.

Earlier this month, six soldiers died while dismantling a tunnel that belonged to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam spoke to Defence Minister Michel Menassa to offer his condolences and expressed his "government's full solidarity with the military institution, its leadership, officers, ranks, and personnel."

Salam said that "Lebanon, as a state and a people, bows in reverence to the sacrifices of its heroes, as the army is the safety valve, the bulwark of sovereignty, and the supporter of national unity."

The Israeli military has acknowledged the incident and claimed it had opened an investigation, saying a technical failure led to the drone falling to the ground after it tried to attack an engineering vehicle belonging to Hezbollah.

Under a US-brokered November ceasefire that ended the Hezbollah-Israel war, the Lebanese army must deploy heavily south of the Litani, close to the Israeli border, and disarm all militant groups.

Hezbollah is obliged to move its fighters north of the river and Israel must pull out of the region.

According to recent reports, up to 85 percent of Hezbollah’s sites have been dismantled south of the Litani, where the Lebanese army operates alongside UN peacekeepers.

Israel however continues to occupy five border posts deemed strategic and has refused to withdraw before Hezbollah surrenders all its weapons to the Lebanese state.

Israel has also continued to strike parts of Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, claiming that these are targeting Hezbollah officials, weapons caches and infrastructure.

On Thursday, several airstrikes happened in the south, but no deaths were reported.

War threats

Also on Thursday, US Senator Lindsey Graham, a key ally of Israel in Congress, threatened that Israel could resort to new military action against Hezbollah if it refuses to give up its weapons.

Speaking from Israel after his visit to Lebanon earlier this week with a US delegation, Graham said "Plan B is to disarm the Lebanese Hezbollah by military force."

Hezbollah has pushed back against Lebanese government attempts to disarm it. It has warned that any forceful action by Lebanese authorities to take away what remains of its weapons by force could lead to "internal strife."

It is believed that the militant group still possesses ballistic missiles, precision-guided rockets, and drones.

Officials in Beirut have slammed Hezbollah's threats of a civil war, saying there can no longer continue to be military dualism in Lebanon, and the state must be the sole protector of the nation.

Graham said "it is time to end Hezbollah", noting the party's alliance with Iran and its loyalty to it.

After meeting with Aoun this week, the Republican senator told reporters that Israel would not leave southern Lebanon before Hezbollah is disarmed, throwing the negotiations into uncertainty as Tel Aviv refuses to make concessions.