Israel said Wednesday that eight of its soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah on the ground in south Lebanon as the Israeli invasion is underway.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the troops were killed in a gun battle with Hezbollah in a village in southern Lebanon. The Israeli soldiers were commandos in the elite Egoz Unit, and their squad commander was among those killed.
According to Reuters, the Israeli military said that regular troops and armored divisions would be joining the commandos in the fight in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah also said that its forces destroyed three Israeli tanks near Maroun El Ras, a Lebanese town just one kilometer from the Israeli border.
Later in the day, Al Jazeera reported that Hezbollah said its forces surveilled an Israel unit in Kfar Kila, another border town, and detonated explosives in a building where the Israeli troops were located. Hezbollah claimed all members of the Israeli unit were killed but didn’t specify how many.
Hezbollah has also said its forces were able to repel Israeli troops from advancing in other areas of southern Lebanon. The Israeli casualties show that Hezbollah is putting up stiff resistance against the invading force despite the massive Israeli airstrikes that have been hitting Lebanon for more than a week.
The US backed Israel’s decision to invade southern Lebanon, insisting it would be a “limited” operation aimed at removing Hezbollah positions from near the border. Publicly, the US has called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but a report from POLITICO revealed White House officials were privately encouraging Israel to escalate its attacks on the country.
