8 Israeli troops killed in Lebanon; 6 killed in Beirut as Israel strikes back
PTC News Desk: Hours after Israel announced the deaths of eight soldiers, its first since initiating cross-border invasions this week, the IDF conducted a fatal air attack on a Hezbollah rescue facility in central Beirut on Thursday, killing at least six people.
Israel's shelling comes after Israeli forces had their worst day on the Lebanese front in a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. On Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed to have thwarted an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah claimed it pushed Israeli soldiers to retreat, struck an Israeli unit with explosives, and destroyed three Merkava tanks with rockets as they advanced on Maroun al-Ras village.
The Israeli military claimed it conducted two brief incursions into Lebanon, ordering residents to vacate more than 20 areas.
The military released pictures showing soldiers on foot travelling through villages and mountainous areas in Lebanon and announced the deployment of a second division to reinforce the fighting.
The clashes occurred hours after Iran unleashed its heaviest missile attack yet on Israel, its sworn enemy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Tehran that it will be held accountable for its "big mistake".
Israel has pounded Hezbollah's base in south Beirut, after killing the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a huge strike the previous week.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's health ministry reported that Israeli strikes had killed 46 people and injured 85 others in the last 24 hours.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor headquartered in Britain, reported that an Israeli strike in Damascus killed four persons, including Hassan Jaafar al-Qasir, the murdered Hezbollah leader's son-in-law.
- PTC NEWS
