IDF Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan Killed by Hezbollah Mortar in South Lebanon

IDF Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan was killed by a Hezbollah mortar shell in south Lebanon, the latest Israeli soldier fatality in the renewed conflict. The IDF issued evacuation warnings for residents near Tyre (Sour) and conducted retaliatory airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in the area following the mortar attack. The killing underscored Hezbollah's continued capacity to engage Israeli forces with indirect fire weapons despite the group's degraded command structure following the killing of former Secretary-General Nasrallah and most of its senior military leadership in 2024. The IDF has been maintaining a ground presence in south Lebanon in positions it argues are necessary to prevent Hezbollah rearmament, even as Lebanese officials demand full Israeli withdrawal under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.