OAN Staff James Meyers
11:57 AM – Wednesday, October 2, 2024
At least eight Israeli soldiers have been killed after fighting back against Hezbollah terrorists in a ground operation in Lebanon, according to a statement from Israel’s military on Wednesday.
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The soldiers died during two separate attacks in southern Lebanon, with one being an ambush nearby Hezbollah’s tunnels. This followed after the Jewish State launched a ground incursion in the country this week, the Israel Defense Forces announced (IDF).
Capt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, a 22-year-old commando in the Egoz Commando Unit, was the first reported fatality among the Israeli troops since the ground invasion began. He reportedly became engaged in a back-and-forth shoot-out with Hezbollah terrorists.
Additionally, four others from his unit were killed as well, including Capt. Harel Etinger, 23, Sgt. First Class Noam Barzilay, 22, Sgt. First Class Or Mantzur, 21, and Sgt. First Class Nazar Itkin, 21, according to the Times of Israel outlet.
Furthermore, Capt. Itai Ariel Giat, 23, of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, as well as Staff Sgt. Almken Terefe, 21, and Staff Sgt. Ido Broyer, 21, both from the Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit, were killed in the second incident as well.
The UK’s Times of London also reported that a number of Israeli troops had been killed after being ambushed close to Hezbollah tunnels near Odaisseh, which is a Southern Lebanese village. One survivor of the attack told the outlet that everyone had been injured in the attack, but they still managed to withdraw.
Additionally, Hezbollah leaders told Middle Eastern correspondents that its fighters had injured or killed a group of Israeli soldiers after detonating an explosive device.
The deaths reported on Wednesday were the most suffered by the Israeli military on the Lebanon front in a year of clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group.
Furthermore, the group said it had also fired rockets at military posts inside the Jewish State.
Hezbollah’s official media chief, Mohammad Afif Saqid, claimed that those battles were only “the first round” and that the group had enough fighters, ammunition, and weapons to stave off Israel.
In response, the Israeli military confirmed it was strengthening its presence by calling up regular infantry and armored units to join its ground operations in Lebanon, just a day after Iran attacked Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles.
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