An IDF reservist soldier was killed, and seven were wounded, including senior officers, by a Hezbollah explosive device in southern Lebanon the day before, the military announced Thursday.

The slain soldier was named as Master Sgt. (res.) Alexander Filin, 29, a combat soldier with the 36th Division’s headquarters, from Haifa.

At around 5 p.m., the deputy commander of the 36th Division, his forward command team and other soldiers were walking along the Litani River when they were hit by a blast.

The military said the deputy division commander, with the rank of colonel; a battalion commander in the 556th Transport Regiment, a reservist officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel; and another reservist were moderately injured.

In addition, a combat soldier, two combat reservists and a servicewoman were lightly injured in the explosion.

The IDF said the soldiers were all taken to hospitals and their families were notified.

An initial IDF probe suggested the blast was a Hezbollah explosive device, with further details under investigation.

Following the incident, the IDF said it carried out artillery shelling on Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.

Lebanese media later reported one dead and another critically wounded in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the strike hit a car near Kfar Tebnit, a village near Nabatieh where the Israeli army has been operating in recent days.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike.

Filin immigrated alone from Ukraine when he was 12, and in 2016, shortly after he had completed basic training, foiled a Palestinian attack, according to Hebrew media reports. He was manning a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Nablus when an assailant attacked him and another soldier. Filin managed to kick the attacker away and then shoot him to end the assault.

In 2018, he was presented with the President’s Award for Excellence.

The United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday meant to end the Middle East war, with fighting halted on all fronts, including in........

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