An Israeli reservist was killed Sunday in a Hezbollah drone attack along the border with Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the soldier’s death on Monday.
The fallen soldier was Staff Sgt. (Res.) Alexander Glovanyov, 47, from Petah Tikva. He served as a heavy transport vehicle driver in the IDF Technological and Logistics Corps’ 6924th Transport Battalion.
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, Glovanyov was killed when a kamikaze drone launched by the Iran-backed terrorist organization struck Israeli territory. His death raises the total number of fallen Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the War of Redemption — triggered by the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023 — to 943.
Defense Minister Israel Katz offered condolences to the soldier’s family: “Alexander served in the reserves out of a true sense of duty to protect the State of Israel and the residents of the north. May his memory be a blessing.”
Ceasefire barely holding
The attack occurred despite an ongoing ceasefire. US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on April 16, following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. The ceasefire was extended by another three weeks on April 23.
Netanyahu had already said on April 26 that Hezbollah was “essentially destroying the ceasefire itself” through its continued attacks.
“What obligates us is Israel’s security, the security of our soldiers and the security of our communities. We are acting decisively according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States,” he said.
Fiber-optic drones as a new weapon
Hezbollah is increasingly using fiber-optic drones, which are controlled by cable and can bypass Israel’s electronic defense systems because they emit no radio signal that can be jammed or tracked.
Glovanyov is already the second victim of a deadly Hezbollah drone attack within several weeks. In late April, 19-year-old Sgt. Idan Fooks was killed under similar circumstances when a drone struck during repair work in southern Lebanon.
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