Extracts: Israel’s military says eight of its soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, its first losses since the start of the ground invasion against the armed group Hezbollah
Hezbollah which is backed by Iran, said it had destroyed Israeli tanks during the fighting and insisted it had enough men and ammunition to push back the forces
Earlier, the Israeli military announced that more infantry and armoured troops had joined the operation seeking to dismantle what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanese border villages
Israel has gone on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza On the second full day of their ground invasion into Lebanon, Israeli troops encountered Hezbollah fighters for the first time
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that soldiers backed by aircraft had “eliminated terrorists and dismantled terrorist infrastructure through precision-guided munitions and close-range engagements” in several southern Lebanese areas
Later, the IDF announced that eight troops had been killed in action. Most were commandos from the elite Egoz and Golani Reconnaissance units Six were reportedly ambushed by Hezbollah fighters and another two were killed by mortar fire
Hezbollah said dozens of its fighters had fired ani-tank missiles at Israeli commandos, killing and wounding dozens of them, during clashes early on Wednesday in one border village
It also claimed that other troops were targeted with explosives and gunfire on the outskirts of Kafr Kila and that three Israeli Merkava tanks were destroyed by missiles near Maroun al-Ras
Hezbollah has spent years building infrastructure in southern Lebanon that includes extensive underground tunnels. It also has thousands of fighters, who know the area well
More than 240 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel throughout Wednesday, according to the IDF
US and Israeli officials believe half of Hezbollah’s arsenal has been destroyed and its leadership has been dismantled But Mohammed Afif, a Hezbollah spokesman, remained defiant
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“I can say the resistance is swiftly recovering its strength” Afif, told the BBC “The leadership of the resistance is well, its command-and-control structure is well and its supply of rockets is well”
“God willing! we will inflict defeat upon the Israeli enemy when they dare cross into Lebanon”
