JERUSALEM, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday said an Israeli infantry soldier was killed in an overnight attack by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the soldier was killed by a mortar shell fired by Hezbollah at Israeli forces near the Litani River, in territory controlled by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

The soldier, Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan, 20, was a fighter in the IDF's Golani Brigade.

Israel's Channel 12 News reported that Golani troops have been conducting a special operation in recent days on the banks of the Litani River, about 10 km north of the Israeli border.

The report said the operation aims to destroy significant Hezbollah military infrastructure, both above and below ground, and to carry out engineering work in the river area that will allow the passage of larger forces if the IDF is required to expand the maneuver in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the IDF said it successfully intercepted a rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon on Friday morning toward communities in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee. No casualties were reported.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the strike.

The developments came as Israel expands a ground offensive in southern Lebanon and conducts daily airstrikes, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that took effect at midnight between April 16 and 17, following weeks of intensified cross-border fighting linked to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Hezbollah has responded with drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces and northern Israel.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said as of Wednesday, 2,896 people had been killed and 8,824 injured on the Lebanese side since the current round of fighting began on March 2. ■