JERUSALEM -- An Israeli army officer was killed Wednesday in fighting in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a statement.

The officer was identified as 22-year-old Eitan Oster from the city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut in central Israel.

He was a squad commander in the army's elite commando unit Egoz, which specializes in fighting in complex terrains, fieldcraft, camouflage, and miniature warfare.

The military said Oster is the first Israeli soldier killed since the IDF's ground invasion of Lebanon late on Monday in what it has described as "limited, localized, and targeted" raids against Hezbollah.