"Sergeant First Class (Reserve) Omer Moshe Gaeldor, aged 30, from Jerusalem, a soldier from the 5,111 Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said, adding three other soldiers were wounded.

The death brings to 49 the military's losses in Lebanon since the start of ground operations.

Earlier Tuesday, the army said another unit had begun targeted raids against "a central Hezbollah terror stronghold" in southern Lebanon on Monday.

In coordination with the air force, its troops "struck dozens of targets" in the stronghold which it said were used to fire rockets towards Israel.

In September, Israel intensified air strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and then sent in ground troops, after a year of relatively low-level cross-border exchanges which Hezbollah said were in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.