Eight Israeli soldiers killed in fighting in Lebanon

Jerusalem (EFE).- Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, assured in a statement that the country “is in the midst of a difficult war against Iran’s axis of evil” in which he expressed his condolences on the death of. Eight soldiers are involved in the ground offensive in Lebanon that began on Tuesday morning.

“God save his blood. May his memory be blessed,” the President said in a video statement released by his office.

Netanyahu closed his appearance by assuring that he would return those expelled from the south – those living next to the border with Gaza – and from the north – next to Lebanon – and said they would ” Will guarantee Israel’s “eternity”.

In about two days since Israel announced the entry of its troops into Lebanese territory, eight soldiers – all in their twenties – lost their lives, the first to fall in the neighboring country since the 2006 war. .

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that according to hospital sources, five of the injured soldiers were being treated at Beilinson Hospital in the center of the country.

Israel is mobilizing more and more troops to the border with Lebanon, where this Tuesday it created a new “closed military zone” in three towns just a kilometer from the border, as it began its ground offensive on Monday night. It was made some time ago. Operation.

This afternoon, the armed forces announced the entry of the 36th Division, consisting of armored and infantry brigades, into Lebanon to join the Hebrew offensive against Hezbollah, which has killed nearly 2,000 people in the past two weeks .

Eight Israeli soldiers killed in fighting in Lebanon

The Israeli military said eight soldiers had been killed since its troops entered Lebanon early Tuesday.

Shortly after announcing its first death in Lebanese territory since the 2006 war, a soldier identified as Eitan Itzhak Oster, a new military statement included the names of seven other deaths in the war.

Those killed so far include Captains Harel Ettinger and Itai Ariel Giat, Sergeants First Class Noam Barzilay and Orr Mantzur and Nazar Itkin, Sergeants Ido Broer and Almken Terefe, and Commander Eitan Itzhak Oster.

According to The Times of Israel, Ettinger, Giyat, Barzilai, Mantzour, Itkin and Oster were killed in close combat against Hezbollah militants in a town in southern Lebanon, while four other soldiers were wounded.

The second incident, about which the armed forces did not provide further details, took the lives of Teref and Brower and injured a soldier from the Golani Brigade, an elite infantry brigade, with the fourth incident wounding another uniformed man. Done.

“Short Range” Combat

The army mentioned for the first time this Wednesday the development of short-range fighting in southern Lebanon, where until now it had spoken only of bombings.

Hezbollah, for its part, first announced in a statement in the morning that it was fighting a group of “intruded” Israeli troops in the southern town of Maron al-Ras, close to the common dividing line. , and indicated to cause deaths.

According to an earlier military statement, “more than 150 infrastructures” have been destroyed in the airstrikes so far, including Hezbollah headquarters, weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. Israel is mobilizing more and more troops to the border with Lebanon, where this Tuesday it created a new “closed military zone” in three towns just a kilometer from the border, as it began its ground offensive on Monday night. It was made some time ago. Operation.

This afternoon, the armed forces announced the entry of the 36th Division, consisting of armored and infantry brigades, into Lebanon to join the Hebrew offensive against Hezbollah, which has killed nearly 2,000 people in the past two weeks .

conflict in the south

Shiite group Hezbollah in a statement first announced the clashes against a group of “intruding” Israeli troops near the common dividing line in the southern city of Maron al-Ras, and indicated casualties among Jewish ranks. ,

Shortly before, the Lebanese Army confirmed the presence of Israeli troops in the areas of Harba Yaron and Bawaba al Edessa, about 400 meters from the Blue Line, but said they had withdrawn after a short time, one in According to the message.

Iran’s ally Hezbollah had announced earlier in the morning that it had foiled an Israeli “infantry force” that was trying to enter the border town of Odesseh.

Similarly, it claimed responsibility for more than a dozen attacks with rockets, missiles or artillery launched at the actual division against troop positions and gatherings in various parts of northern Israel, as well as in areas north of the city of Haifa.

128,000 people have already entered Syria from Lebanon

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) assured this Wednesday that approximately 128,000 people have entered Syria from Lebanon since the Israeli campaign against the Mediterranean country began a week ago.

According to one report, the agency’s Syria office estimates that 70% of the 128,000 are Syrian, while the rest are Lebanese, indicating that many of them have gone to the Jdedet Yabos border crossing in eastern Lebanon.

This massive influx coincides with the Lebanese authorities’ decision to facilitate the departure of Syrian citizens and Palestinian refugees originally from Syria who remained in Lebanon, regardless of the way they entered Lebanon. Also, relaxation has been given for one week. Each Syrian is required to pay $100 to enter the country.

displaced minor

UNHCR observed an increase in the number of teenage Syrian males coming to the border with their families and said that about 60% of those crossing border checkpoints were under the age of 18.

“(Syrian) authorities and local communities are setting up reception centers throughout Syria to welcome small numbers of Lebanese people and provide them assistance,” the agency, which is present at Syria’s border posts with Lebanon, said.

Many Syrians in Lebanon fled the war in their country for various reasons, including avoiding military service among the people or fleeing ongoing government repression, which led to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. Popular protests were crushed.

Israel continues to bomb Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon

Meanwhile, Israel says it has already gained access to the Shia group’s targets and tunnels in its raids, although Hezbollah denies this information.

In addition, the Israeli army has again bombed this Wednesday several cities in the south and east of Lebanon, where the main strongholds of the Shiite group Hezbollah are located, but also the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahaye.

The Hebrew Military Command has ordered the evacuation of some of these areas, announcing the dispatch of more troops for a series of “limited ground incursions”.

“Hezbollah’s activities compel the military to take forceful action against the group. The army has no intention of harming them, therefore, for their own safety, they should immediately evacuate their homes and move north of the Avli River,” Avichai Adrai, the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman, said in a message.

At least 55 people were killed and 156 others injured in Israeli bombings in southern and eastern Lebanon yesterday alone, according to Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry.

Overall, since the beginning of the Israeli offensive against Lebanon two weeks ago, more than a thousand people have been killed and displaced, many of them from areas considered safe in the north of the country, including Beirut and tens of thousands of people. Thousands of people have fled across the border and entered Syria.

European Air Agency advises to avoid Iranian airspace

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Thursday recommended all European airlines avoid Iranian airspace following Tehran’s attack on Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government promising retaliatory measures.

“Following the Iranian attack against Israel on October 1, 2024, and Israel’s announcement of its intention to retaliate, the European Commission and EASA have decided to issue a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CJIB) containing “Operators in Iranian It is advised not to operate flights.” airspace at all flight levels,” the agency said in a statement.