The Israeli Army reported this Thursday the death in combat of two soldiers belonging to an airborne brigade in southern Lebanon, in an operation in which four other soldiers were "seriously injured." The announcement came after the resumption of Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory.
The fatalities are Major Harel Birenstock and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin, company commander and soldier, respectively, of a battalion of the 55th airborne brigade. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), both "fell in combat in southern Lebanon."
"In the incident in which they died," the note released by the Army states, "four reserve soldiers of the IDF were seriously injured." These soldiers "have been evacuated to receive medical attention and their families have been informed" about their situation, the military statement adds.
The official report was known early in the morning, just hours after a new Israeli bombing broke the ceasefire that, in theory, was still in effect between Lebanon and Israel. This attack resulted in the death of one person and left another twelve injured in a town in the Bint Jbeil district, near the common border.
Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched offensives against the Tyre district, also in southern Lebanon, after ordering the forced evacuation of the residents of the municipality of Al Mansuri. In this locality, around 1,500 residents were still present in July, according to local authorities' data.
At the same time, in Rome, the seventh round of talks between the involved parties had just begun a day earlier, with the aim of advancing the implementation of the framework agreement reached at the end of June. This process was initiated nearly four months after the Lebanese Shiite militia party and Israeli forces resumed armed clashes in the context of the joint offensive by Israel and the United States against Iran, which began shortly before.
However, these talks have been suspended "earlier than expected due to events on the ground," according to a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, who insisted that negotiations "will resume" later on Thursday.