A noncommissioned officer in the Israel Defense Forces was killed and another soldier was seriously wounded in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in northern Israel on Monday morning, the military said.

The slain NCO was named as Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, 45, a tracker in the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, from the northern Bedouin village of Ibtin.

According to the IDF, five explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon in the attack, with three being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

Two of the drones impacted in the Western Galilee, one near Gesher Haziv and one near Ya’ara.

The drone that struck near Ya’ara killed Amaria and injured several other soldiers, one of them seriously.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted a military position.

It said that attack came in response to an Israeli “attack and assassination” in south Lebanon’s Tyre area. On Saturday the IDF said it had killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in a drone strike.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike against a cell of Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon’s Houla. The terror group announced the deaths of two operatives following the strike.

Additional strikes on Monday targeted a rocket launcher and a building used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab, and another building in Hanine, the military added.

On Sunday night, the IDF said fighter jets struck several more buildings used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab, Beit Lif, and Houla.

The region has been bracing for a major escalation in violence for more than two weeks, since Israel killed Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr and was blamed for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, drawing promises to retaliate from both Iran and its Lebanese proxy.

Israel has been on high alert and has warned that it would respond if Iran or Hezbollah attack, even as low-level clashes with the Lebanese group have continued along Israel’s northern border.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 19 IDF soldiers and reservists — including in Monday’s attack. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 414 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 72 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Agencies contributed to this report.