Israel-Lebanon live: Hezbollah drone attack kills 4 Israeli soldiers as US to deploy Thaad missile system

The US is sending a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery to Israel along with troops to operate it

The announcement was made on Sunday just hours after Iran warned the US to keep its military forces out of Israel. Thaad deployment “underscores” America’s “ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran”, the Pentagon said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah drone attacks on an army base in central Israel killed at least four soldiers and severely wounded seven others, the military said.

The Iran-backed group called the attack near Binyamina city retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut that killed 22 people on Thursday.

The attack comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon “immediately”.

“Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Mr Netanyahu said.

It comes as 40 nations, including the UK , “strongly” condemn the attacks on peacekeepers, after five were injured by gunfire.

A spokesperson for UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said attacks against peacekeepers might constitute a “war crime”.