Israel suffered one of many deadliest days of its floor offensive towards Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday when six of its troopers have been killed in fight close to the border.
The troopers “fell throughout fight in southern Lebanon”, the military mentioned in a press release. Their deaths imply 47 Israeli troops have been killed in fight with Hezbollah since September 30, when Israel despatched floor forces into Lebanon.
The military’s announcement got here after new Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz mentioned there could be no easing up within the struggle towards Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media platform X shared a picture of the “Golani” Brigade image — the unit the troopers killed belonged to — a inexperienced olive tree towards a yellow background, with a damaged coronary heart emoji.
Since September 23, Israel has stepped up its bombing marketing campaign in Lebanon, primarily focusing on Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and the east and south of the nation. On September 30, it despatched in floor troops.
It got here after practically a 12 months of cross-border exchanges of fireplace, launched by Hezbollah in assist of its Palestinian ally Hamas following their October 7, 2023 assault on Israel that triggered the Gaza struggle.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit Aramoun, a densely packed space south of Beirut that’s exterior Hezbollah’s conventional strongholds, which the well being ministry mentioned killed eight individuals.
Strikes additionally sounded over the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday night time, with AFP footage displaying smoke rising from an space below Israeli evacuation orders. The hit got here after Lebanese state media reported a wave of Israeli raids on the Hezbollah bastion in 24 hours.
Iran-backed Hezbollah mentioned on Wednesday it had fired ballistic missiles on the Israeli military’s headquarters within the business hub of Tel Aviv, which additionally homes the defence ministry.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military spokesperson’s unit mentioned it could “not react to Hezbollah’s allegations”.
The Israeli military, in the meantime, mentioned it had intercepted among the “5 projectiles” that had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
Hezbollah additionally claimed duty for firing missiles at “enemy military forces” in northern Israel simply earlier than midnight.
– ‘No time left’ –
On his first go to to the border since his appointment final week, Defence Minister Katz mentioned Israel would “make no ceasefires, we is not going to take our foot off the pedal, and we is not going to permit any association that doesn’t embody the achievement of our struggle goals”.
“We’ll proceed to strike Hezbollah in all places,” he mentioned.
Israel’s goals embody disarming Hezbollah and pushing the militants past the Litani River, which flows throughout southern Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities say greater than 3,360 individuals have been killed since October 2023 when Hezbollah and Israel started participating in cross-border clashes.
Rocket fireplace from Lebanon on Tuesday killed two residents of the northern Israeli metropolis of Nahariya. The deaths deliver to 45 the variety of civilians killed in northern Israel because of rocket fireplace from Lebanon.
The UN Safety Council on Wednesday condemned a sequence of assaults on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in October and November, calling on all events to respect the security of the Blue Helmets.
“Peacekeepers mustn’t ever be the goal of an assault,” the Council mentioned in a press release.
In Gaza, Hamas allies the Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched a video on Wednesday of an Israeli hostage held within the strip, who recognized himself as Sasha Trupanov.
When Hamas militants staged the October 7 assault, they took 251 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Some have been already useless. Of these, 97 are nonetheless held hostage, whereas 34 are confirmed useless however their our bodies stay in Gaza.
Trupanov’s mom, Lena, in a press release printed by the Hostage and Lacking Households Discussion board marketing campaign group, urged the hostages’ speedy launch, saying: “They don’t have any time left”.
The well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Wednesday mentioned at the very least 43,712 individuals have been killed in additional than 13 months of struggle between Israel and Palestinian militants.
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