'We are at war'

Army chief warns Israel will hit back after drone strike

- Mark Reynolds

ISRAEL'S military chief declared yesterday that his country is at war with Hezbollah after a drone attack by the terror group killed four teenage troops at an army base.

The soldiers, all aged 19, died and 67 were wounded as they ate in the camp's food hall on Sunday night.

The strike at Binyamina, 20 miles south of Haifa, was the deadliest on an Israeli base since Jerusalem stepped up its campaign against the Iranian-backed militants last month.

The Hezbollah attack came as Israeli forces continued expanding their operations in the south of Lebanon, hitting more than 200 targets over the weekend, killing 51 people on Sunday.

The four Israeli soldiers who died were named yesterday as Sgt Alon Amitay, Sgt Yoav Agmon, Sgt Omri Tamari and Sgt Yosef Hieb.

Visiting the Binyamina base, the Israel Defence Forces' chief of staff Herzi Halevi said: "We are at war and an attack on a training base is difficult and the results are painful." He was accompanied by Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant who added that the military would learn lessons from the deadly drone strike.