Soldier killed in south Lebanon by Hezbollah drone, another seriously wounded

Sgt. Nehoray Leizer, 19, from Eilat, was driving armored personnel carrier when it was struck in the Bint Jbeil area; he is 10th soldier killed amid truce, 23rd since March 2

A soldier was killed in battle on Sunday in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces announced Monday morning.

Sgt. Nehoray Leizer, 19, from Eilat, a combat engineer in the 601st Battalion, was killed by an explosive Hezbollah drone, the IDF said.

The drone struck an armored personnel carrier that Leizer was driving. The IDF is investigating whether the drone managed to penetrate the vehicle, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

Another soldier was seriously wounded in the incident. That soldier’s family has been notified, the army said.

The incident took place at about 3:30 p.m, near the Christian village of Debel in the Bint Jbeil District.

In a post to social media, the fallen soldier’s mother, Rotem David-Leizer, wrote: “They tore out my heart. Why? Why? God, why?”

His sister wrote: “My little brother. My whole world. My heart stopped beating together with you.”

Leizer’s funeral is scheduled to be held on Monday in the military portion of Eilat’s cemetery, at 5 p.m.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Leizer in a statement, saying the “marvelous young man from the city of Eilat fought with heroism and, with self-sacrifice, defended our northern border against the Hezbollah terror organization.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that “Nehorai, a son of the city of Eilat, was from the best among us — as a youth, he was already imbued with Zionism and a sense of mission, when he was a member of youth movements, and during a year of service after which he went on to serve as a combat soldier.”

Leizer was the tenth IDF soldier to be killed in southern Lebanon since the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has largely unraveled after being announced last month.

He was the 23rd to be killed since Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2, in support of sponsor Iran, after US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic. A civilian contractor was also killed in southern Lebanon.

The ongoing combat has seen repeated fatalities from Hezbollah’s first-person view drones, whose use by the terror group has increased sharply in recent months.

The latest round of fighting in Lebanon has claimed more than 3,000 lives, according to Lebanon’s health ministry last week. Several hundred of that number were said to have been killed amid the shaky, US-brokered ceasefire.

The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, though sources familiar with Hezbollah’s own casualty figures have said some of the terror group’s fighters aren’t included.

The Israeli military has said that it has killed over 2,000 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran.

During the fighting in Lebanon, Hezbollah has fired some 5,500 rockets at IDF troops operating in the south of the country, as well as around 2,500 at Israel, according to the military.

There have been at least 75 rocket impact sites in Israel. In addition, Hezbollah has launched around 300 drones, of which 25 struck Israel, according to the IDF.

Leizer’s death on Sunday came as the US and Iran said they were finalizing a memorandum of understanding to end fighting in the war that began at the end of February. Israeli officials are reportedly concerned it will include a clause announcing an end to fighting in Lebanon as well.

Early on Sunday, amid the concern, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X that US President Donald Trump, in a phone call, “reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said, later that day: “If Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launches missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that, or to prevent that from happening,” adding: “That’s always been understood. It’s being understood during the ceasefire.”