Six Israeli troops killed, lethal strikes in Lebanon

Israel suffered one of many deadliest days of its floor offensive in opposition to Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday when six of its troopers had been killed in fight close to the border.

The troopers “fell during combat in southern Lebanon”, the military stated in an announcement. 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 stated there could be no easing up within the warfare in opposition to 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 in opposition to a yellow background, with a damaged coronary heart emoji.

Since September 23, Israel has stepped up its bombing marketing campaign in Lebanon, primarily concentrating 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 almost a yr of cross-border exchanges of fireside, launched by Hezbollah in assist of its Palestinian ally Hamas following their October 7, 2023 assault on Israel that triggered the Gaza warfare.

Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit Aramoun, a densely packed space south of Beirut that’s outdoors Hezbollah’s conventional strongholds, which the well being ministry stated killed eight folks.

Strikes additionally sounded over the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday evening, with AFP footage displaying smoke rising from an space underneath 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 stated on Wednesday it had fired ballistic missiles on the Israeli military’s headquarters within the industrial hub of Tel Aviv, which additionally homes the defence ministry.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military spokesperson’s unit stated it might “not react to Hezbollah’s allegations”.

The Israeli military, in the meantime, stated it had intercepted a number of the “five projectiles” that had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah additionally claimed duty for firing missiles at “enemy army 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 stated Israel would “make no ceasefires, we will not take our foot off the pedal, and we will not allow any arrangement that does not include the achievement of our war objectives”.

“We will continue to strike Hezbollah everywhere,” he stated.

Israel’s targets embody disarming Hezbollah and pushing the militants past the Litani River, which flows throughout southern Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities say greater than 3,360 folks have been killed since October 2023 when Hezbollah and Israel started participating in cross-border clashes.

Rocket hearth from Lebanon on Tuesday killed two residents of the northern Israeli metropolis of Nahariya. The deaths carry to 45 the variety of civilians killed in northern Israel on account of rocket hearth from Lebanon.

The UN Security 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 protection of the Blue Helmets.

“Peacekeepers must never be the target of an attack,” the Council stated in an announcement.

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 had been already lifeless. Of these, 97 are nonetheless held hostage, whereas 34 are confirmed lifeless however their our bodies stay in Gaza.

Trupanov’s mom, Lena, in an announcement printed by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum marketing campaign group, urged the hostages’ rapid launch, saying: “They have no time left”.

The well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Wednesday stated at the very least 43,712 folks have been killed in additional than 13 months of warfare between Israel and Palestinian militants.

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