Lebanese soldier killed, 2 wounded in Israeli shelling in SE Lebanon

BEIRUT, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — One Lebanese soldier was killed and two others wounded on Wednesday morning when the Israeli army targeted a running armored vehicle in southeastern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said on social media platform X.
Lebanese security sources told Xinhua that the incident occurred when the Israeli artillery fired several 155-millimeter shells at an army vehicle while it was traveling on the road between the village of Burj al-Muluk and El-Qalaa, causing casualties to those on board and damaging the vehicle.
A responsible source at Hasbaya Governmental Hospital told Xinhua that the Lebanese Red Cross transferred the casualties to the hospital this morning. The wounded are currently undergoing urgent surgeries, and one of them is in critical condition.
On Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants instructed the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York to file a complaint with the UN Security Council in response to the repeated Israeli targeting of the Lebanese army.
As of Tuesday, the death toll among Lebanese army ranks had risen to 40 since the beginning of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict on Oct. 8, 2023.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October. ■