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.
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.
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.
