(27 Jan 2000) Natural Sound
An Israel soldier killed in southern Lebanon has been buried in Jerusalem.
Rafael Zangwill was killed on Tuesday when an anti-tank missile scored a direct hit on his outpost.
Zangwill was the first Israeli soldier to be killed in action in southern Lebanon in almost six months.
Staff Sergeant Rafael Zangwill was killed in a day of heavy fighting between the Hezbollah, Israel and the South Lebanon Army.
He died when an anti-tank missile scored a direct hit on the Israeli Defence Forces' outpost in Bayyada, which overlooks the southern port city of Tyre.
The soldier - a 24-year old immigrant from Latvia - was the first Israeli fatality in Lebanon in five months and the first since Israel and Syria resumed peace talks.
The last Israeli fatalities were on August 17, when three soldiers died.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla group claimed responsibility for Tuesday attack.
The Israeli occupied zone in south Lebanon was set up in 1985 with the aim of protecting northern Israeli towns against cross-border guerrilla attacks.
But the deaths of their soldiers in south Lebanon have prompted calls from Israelis for a withdrawal from the occupied zone, which Israel calls a security zone.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak has pledged to pull out of south Lebanon by July.
The killing of soldier escalated tension in south Lebanon.
As his funeral was taking place, Israeli warplanes and artillery attacked suspected guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon, the last active Arab-Israeli war front.
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