The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday that eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in separate incidents during intense fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The soldiers were part of a broader Israeli ground invasion launched on Tuesday morning as part of efforts to push Hezbollah militants away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Six soldiers from the Ergoz commando unit died in a gun battle in a southern Lebanese village, while five more soldiers were injured during the same skirmish, according to the IDF. In a separate incident, two soldiers from the Golani reconnaissance unit were killed, with another seriously wounded.
Earlier, the IDF had identified Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, as the first Israeli soldier killed since the invasion commenced.
Israel’s decision to move ground forces into Lebanon follows long-standing warnings by the IDF of a possible invasion to counter Hezbollah’s presence along the border. The military operation aims to clear Hezbollah fighters from the border region, allowing around 60,000 Israeli citizens displaced by the conflict in the north to safely return to their homes.