Israel Kills Three Lebanese Soldiers Who Were Evacuating South Lebanon Village

Adding to the growing number of non-Hezbollah casualties in the ongoing Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces launched a pair of airstrikes against the village of Yater, in southern Lebanon, killing at least three Lebanese soldiers.

The soldiers were in the process of helping facilitate an evacuation of wounded people from the village. The first airstrike hit a house, and an unspecified number of paramedics were wounded when a second strike hit them when they were trying to rescue survivors.

This isn’t the first time Israel has hit Lebanese military forces during their ongoing invasion, and comes just days after Israel issued an apology for having killed another three Lebanese soldiers in an attack on their vehicle. They claimed they mistakenly figured the vehicle carried “armed Hezbollah.”

The Pentagon has issued a statement expressing “deep concern” with the Israeli attacks on Lebanese military targets, and cautioned them to take steps to ensure the safety of Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, who have also come under repeated attack by Israel. The statement reportedly came a few hours before Yater was hit.

Israel, for its part, said today’s Yater attack is under investigation, and that they do not “intentionally” target the Lebanese military. They promised lessons would be learned from the incident.

At least 11 Lebanese soldiers have been killed by Israel since the invasion began in September. This is in addition to thousands of other people, including a large number of civilians. Over a million civilians have also been displaced by the invasion.

Israel has also announced that four of their soldiers were killed and six wounded during fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, and one was killed on Thursday. The soldiers killed on Wednesday were hit in a grenade attack while fighting with Hezbollah, which has much of its force in the Lebanese south.