Israeli soldier killed in southern Lebanon, military says

An Israeli soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, the military said Thursday, bringing the military deaths to 28 since the start of the Iran war in late February.

A military statement said the slain soldier served as a tank commander in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that the soldier was killed after an anti-tank missile directly struck his tank in southern Lebanon.

He was the fourth Israeli soldier to have been killed over the past week amid ongoing hostilities along the Lebanese border.

His death brought the number of Israeli military personnel killed since the start of Israel's military campaign against Iran in late February and on Lebanon in early March to 28, according to Israeli figures.

Military figures also showed that 1,243 Israeli soldiers have also been wounded.

On Wednesday, Lebanon and Israel agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish "pilot zones," placing the Lebanese army in exclusive territorial control, with all non-state actors excluded.

The agreement was announced in a joint statement released following a fourth round of US-mediated talks held at the State Department on Wednesday.

The US-sponsored talks followed weeks of near-daily Israeli strikes on Lebanon that have killed nearly 3,500 people since March 2, despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 and was later extended until early July.