On Wednesday Israel has disclosed that its military suffered the loss of eight soldiers killed in combat thus far. The slain troops were young conscripts, ranging in age 21 to 23. Hezbollah sources are claiming that dozens more Israeli troops were wounded.
Israeli media published photos of the young deceased troops, saying they were all killed Wednesday during cross-border ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and mark the first deaths since the launch of 'Operation Northern Arrows'.
"The six Egoz commandos were all killed during a gun battle with Hezbollah operatives in a southern Lebanon village. Another officer and four soldiers were seriously wounded in the same incident," Times of Israel writes. Egoz is special forces reconnaissance unit made up of elite commandos. Two other deaths were recorded in a separate battle incident in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day Hezbollah issued a statement saying it set an explosives trap ambush into which an Israeli unit walked, resulting in a group of casualties.
It is a clearly intensifying ground situation, also as the IDF said Wednesday Hezbollah has launched at least 140 rockets into Israel. The IDF's stated objective is to permanently push Hezbollah back far away enough from the border to create a buffer zone, so that tens of thousands of Israeli citizens may return to their homes in the north.
Even rescue and extraction efforts by the IDF related the Lebanon casualties appeared chaotic and difficult. "During the extraction of the casualties following the gun battle in a building, Hezbollah operatives fired mortars at the soldiers, wounding further troops," TOI details.
By Israel's account, it looks like the slain IDF troops had walked into an ambush during which fire came from multiple sides, and included shoulder-fired rockets:
An IDF probe into the deadly battle in which the six Egoz commandos were killed found that they began an offensive against a village near the border early this morning, where Hezbollah had infrastructure that the army was seeking to dismantle.
The troops had entered a building in the village, where they then encountered a group of Hezbollah operatives and exchanged fire with them.
Moments later, a series of other encounters began in the surrounding area, with dozens of Hezbollah operatives opening fire, firing anti-tank missiles, and launching mortars at the soldiers.
Prime Minister Netanyahu offered condolences to the families of the slain, and added this: "We are in the middle of a tough war against Iran’s axis of evil, which seeks to destroy us. This will not happen, because we will stand together, and with God’s help — we will win together."
The Israeli military evacuates its dead and wounded militants following clashes with Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/SU8WPGzQic
— Sharmine Narwani (@snarwani) October 2, 2024
Netanyahu added: "We will rescue our hostages in the south, we will return our residents in the north, we will guarantee Israel’s eternity."
The IDF has said "close-range engagements" are unfolding in southern Lebanon, and that infantry forces are supported by tanks and airpower. Artillery from backline positions are also assisting, and the IDF has sent tens of thousands to the Lebanese border.
FOX has obtained rare footage of Israeli ground force operations:
Exclusive: As Israeli forces started their ground operation into Lebanon, we were embedded with a commando unit that cleared a Hezbollah position.
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 2, 2024
To cover this story, we crossed minefields and hiked through a dense forest. Our report also covers the toll on Lebanese civilians. pic.twitter.com/IqBkQb4DFy
The Associated Press details of the geographic space being fought over, "The Israeli military has warned people in and around 50 villages and towns to evacuate north of the Awali River, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border and much farther than the northern edge of a U.N.-declared zone intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war."
A Wednesday Lebanese Army statement has said Israeli forces entered around 400m into Lebanese territory near Oddaiseh but then withdrew after intense clashes. Hezbollah says it pushed the IDF out following the skirmish.
Still frame of AP live stream showing major new strikes on Beirut in the late night hours of Wednesday:
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled north, or into Syria, while others remained trapped in the war zone. Air raids on Beirut have continued through Wednesday. Over 1,000 people have died in the last two weeks of Israeli Air Force airstrikes over Lebanon.
