TEL AVIV: Israeli said on Wednesday eight of its soldiers were killed in combat in south Lebanon as its forces pushed into its northern neighbour in a campaign against the Hezbollah armed group.
The losses were the deadliest suffered by the Israeli military on the Lebanon front in the past year of clashes between Israel and its Iran-backed Lebanese adversary.
Hezbollah said its fighters were engaging Israeli forces inside Lebanon on Wednesday, reporting ground clashes for the first time since Israel began its ground advance.
The Israeli military said regular infantry and armoured units were joining its ground operations in Lebanon, a day after Israel was attacked by Iran in a missile strike that raised concerns that the oil-producing Middle East could be caught up in a wider conflict.
Iran said on Wednesday its missile volley – its biggest ever assault on Israel – was over barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back hard.
Earlier the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed in combat operations in Lebanon on Wednesday, marking the first loss since its forces crossed the border to target Hezbollah.
“Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, aged 22… fell during combat in Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
A military website said Oster was killed on Wednesday, without providing further details.
Hezbollah said its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops who had “infiltrated” a southern border village.
The group said earlier it had forced Israeli soldiers to withdraw after they attempted to enter the border village of Adaysseh further northeast.
Israel presses on with military presence in Lebanon after Iran attack
It was the first time the Hezbollah said there was fighting on Lebanese soil since the start of an escalation in recent weeks when the Israeli army began pounding south Lebanon and later killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike.
“This is just the start of the confrontation,” Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told media on a tour in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs.
“The resistance in the south is at its highest level of readiness,” he added, referring to Hezbollah fighters.
The Lebanese army also said Israeli forces had briefly breached the demarcation line between the countries.
“Israeli enemy forces breached the Blue Line by approximately 400 metres (yards) into Lebanese territory” in two areas, “then withdrew a short time later”, it said on X.
Earlier Wednesday, the Israeli army called for the evacuation of additional areas in southern Lebanon, telling residents to leave over 20 villages and towns in south Lebanon.
The move came a day after a similar evacuation call was made by the Israeli military as it announced the launch of ground operations.
