The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that eight soldiers had been killed in fighting in Lebanon, two days after Israel launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah. In the morning, it had reported the death of a soldier, “Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, aged 22, killed in action in Lebanon”.
This marks the first reported losses for the Israeli military in Lebanon since the offensive began.
Heavy fighting erupted early in the morning in the Odeisseh-Kfar Kila area, near the Israeli-Lebanese border, between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters.
In response, Hezbollah claimed to have “inflicted significant losses on the attackers.”
The Lebanese Army confirmed the Israeli incursion, stating that “Israeli soldiers advanced 400 meters into Lebanese territory.”
Meanwhile, Israeli artillery launched intense shelling on the southern Lebanese towns of Maroun al-Ras, Yaroun, and Aitaroun. Israeli warplanes also carried out airstrikes, one targeting the Litani River area near Kherdali road and another striking the town of Khiam. Additionally, Israeli artillery shelled the towns of al-Taybeh and Deir Siryan in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah forces on the Lebanese southern border reported that they had attacked an Israeli artillery position in Navih Ziv using kamikaze drones, claiming to have hit their targets accurately.
In northern Israel, sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona and nearby areas.
According to Israeli sources quoted by Sky News Arabia, 14 Israeli soldiers were reported killed in the clashes in southern Lebanon.
