The PMO has identified Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener as the Canadian Forces soldier missing and presumed dead in an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon Tuesday.

Hess-von Kruedener, a member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, died when a bomb directly hit the UN observer base in the town of Khiam near the eastern end of the border with Israel.

Hess-von Kruedener had completed nine months of his one-year tour of duty with the UN in Lebanon. He was an infantry officer with 20 years service, and had done four earlier operational tours (in Cyprus, twice in Bosnia, and Congo).

His former commanding officer, retired Col. Bill Sutherland, said Hess-von Kruedener put all of his energy into becoming the best soldier possible.

"The first thing that struck me was just how incredibly physically fit he was, which was obviously a testament to the enthusiasm, dedication and desire he had to be a soldier," Sutherland told CTV Newsnet by phone.

"Wolf loved ... loves his duty. He loves what he does and he's really good at it," Maj. Gen. Stuart Beare, using his friend's nickname, told reporters outside Hess-von Kruedener's home in Kingston, Ont.

Hess-von Kruedener was the lone Canadian Forces observer in southern Lebanon, and was assigned to report on ceasefire violations with the Observer Group Lebanon (OGL). His group, Team Sierra, was based 10 kilometres to the north of the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border.

On July 18, he provided CTV.ca with an update of his mission via e-mail. He said a great deal of fighting was taking place near his post.

"(O)ur vantage point which has a commanding view of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) positions on the Golan mountains to our east and the IDF positions along the Blue Line to our south, as well as, most of the Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol base."

"It appears that the lion's share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area."

He added that there had been numerous occasions when his post had come under fire, but wrote carefully to avoid revealing tactical information.

"What I can tell you is this: we have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing," he wrote.

"The closest artillery has landed within two meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "deeply saddened" by the presumed death of Hess-von Kruedener.

"This regrettable event underscores the dangers that our Canadian Forces members face, in all the roles they undertake, to serve our country with distinction and honour and provide assistance to citizens in countries far from our shores," he said in a press release.

Harper earlier told reporters in New Brunswick that the observation post should not have been manned after fighting broke out on the border.

"We want to find out why this United Nations post was attacked and also why it remained manned during what is now, more or less, a war during obvious danger to these individuals," said Harper.

Early Thursday, Australia announced it would be moving its 12 peacekeeping troops from rural southern Lebanon to Beirut because of the danger to them.

The attack is becoming a major international incident for Israel, already under criticism for rising civilian casualties in Lebanon.

But Harper doubted whether the Israeli attack was deliberate, "given that the government of Israel has been co-operating with us in our evacuation efforts, in our efforts to move Canadian citizens out of Lebanon and also trying to keep our own troops that are on the ground involved in the evacuation out of harm's way."

Mazen Chaoub of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations asked rhetorically: "I wonder if this is a measured response by Israel, the targeting of United Nations. Nobody sees it as a measured response."

Since Israel began its offensive in Lebanon, an international civilian employee working with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) and his wife were also killed in the fighting.

Five UNIFIL soldiers and one military observer have been wounded.

Annan acts strongly

The confirmation comes as United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said UN observers repeatedly warned Israeli troops the strikes were coming too close.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," said Annan.

In addition to Hess-von Kruedener, the Israeli bomb killed three UN observers from Austria, China and Finland, according to UN and Lebanese military officials.

China's official Xinhua News Agency identified the Chinese observer as Du Zhaoyu.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed "deep regret" over the incident, and promised a thorough investigation, Olmert's office said.

Annan, speaking Wednesday at a news conference in Rome, said he accepted the regrets offered by Olmert, but said "you need to look at the events of yesterday."

He said the UN observers warned Israeli soldiers that they were shelling near the post, and urged them to stop.

"That shelling of the UN position, which is long established and clearly marked, started early in the morning and went on until after 7 p.m., when we lost contact," Annan told reporters.

"People on the ground were in touch with the Israeli army trying to warn them," Annan said.

"And many calls went out until this happened."

10 calls in six hours: UN

An initial UN report says UN observers contacted Israeli troops 10 times in six hours before an Israeli bomb killed four of them.

The Israeli officer promised after each call to have the bombing stopped, but then a bomb exploded directly on the UN post, said an officer from the UN force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

Earlier Wednesday, Annan called for an investigation and said Israel appeared to have struck the site deliberately.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a UN Observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in the statement.

His comments raised the ire of Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, who called the comment "outrageous."

Ayalon said "UNIFIL obviously got caught in the middle" of a gunfight between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, said he was "shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement of the secretary-general."

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay told reporters in Rome, where he is attending an emergency summit on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, that he spoke earlier Wednesday with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni.

"She expressed her sincere condolences and regret for this incident. We are still awaiting further detail as to what took place," he said.

"There's conflicting reports. There is a commitment from the Israelis as well as from the UN, I believe, to have an inquiry, to have an examination of the facts that led to this very tragic loss of life for peacekeepers, including the Canadian killed yesterday."

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry, called the bombing a "tragedy" and promised to share the details of the investigation with the Canadian government.

"We have nothing but respect for the Canadian support for the Middle East peace process and that a Canadian national in the UN uniform was caught up in this fighting is something that we regret," Regev told CTV Newsnet.

The UN deaths come as foreign ministers are in Rome for a summit on the violence in Lebanon.

Hundreds have died in the two weeks since Israel launched a massive military offensive in Beirut. The campaign was sparked after Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others.

Israel is also fighting an offensive in Gaza, after militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier at the end of June.

With a report from CTV's Robert Fife and files from The Associated Press