As tit-for-tat strikes strain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah less than a week since it went into effect, Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday threatened to directly target the Lebanese state should the agreement fall apart.

Israel hits Lebanon with its largest wave of airstrikes since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, as both sides accuse each other of violations.

The latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah is testing the limits of last week’s already fragile ceasefire deal. Hours after Hezbollah fired two mortar shells at an Israeli military outpost on Monday,

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Neutra “fell in a heroic battle near Nir Oz on October 7.” Nir Oz, a small kibbutz near Gaza in southern Israel, was one of the communities worst impacted by the terror attacks of October 7, with one in four residents murdered or kidnapped.

Omer Maxim Neutra, an American-Israeli soldier, was among those killed on Oct. 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists poured into southern Israel, officials said on Monday. Neutra, 21, had been believed to have been taken alive to Gaza as a hostage,