5 soldiers killed, several more hurt amid fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Slain troops were members of Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit; IDF spokesman says terror operatives captured during same battle; Hezbollah declares new ‘escalatory phase’
Five soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were killed amid the ground offensive in southern Lebanon, the military announced Thursday, as Hezbollah threatened to escalate attacks against Israel.
The soldiers were named as company commander Maj. Ofek Bachar, 24, from Nes Ziona; team commander Capt. Elad Siman Tov, 23, from Tzofim; squad leader Staff Sgt. Elyashiv Eitan Wieder, 22, from Jerusalem; Staff Sgt. Yakov Hillel, 21, from Jerusalem; and Staff Sgt. Yehudah Dror Yahalom, 21, from Hebron.
Another officer and two soldiers were seriously injured in the incident. A number of other soldiers were seriously hurt during separate battles in southern Lebanon.
In one incident, an officer and two combat engineers from the Etzioni Brigade’s 8173rd Battalion were seriously injured, as was another soldier from the battalion’s logistical unit. The injuries came from an anti-tank missile attack.
A soldier from the 12th Battalion of the Golani Brigade was also seriously hurt in a firefight with Hezbollah fighters.
In the southern Gaza Strip, a soldier from the 450th Battalion of the Bislamach Brigade, the same battalion that killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday, was also seriously injured in a battle with terrorists.
The injured were brought to hospitals, and the families of the killed and injured were all notified, said the IDF.
During a press conference Thursday night, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Golani soldiers captured Hezbollah operatives during the battle in which the five troops were killed.
Hezbollah meanwhile declared that it was launching a new phase in its war against Israel, saying it was using precision-guided missiles to target troops.
In a statement, the Iran-backed group “announces a transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days.”
The statement was issued after Israel said troops killed Sinwar, but made no mention of the Hamas chief.
Hezbollah said “hundreds of fighters…are fully prepared to counter any Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanese villages,” noting that attacks against Israel have increased in recent days.
It also said its rocket strikes continue “to escalate day by day,” with “precision-guided ones…being deployed for the first time.”
Earlier, legislator Hassan Fadlallah said the aim of the terror organization’s military command is to keep fighting “with all available means” to prevent Israel from achieving its goals and to eventually agree on a ceasefire.
“Our goal today is to end the aggression. We will not go into any detail related to the mechanism or solutions,” he told reporters, when asked whether Hezbollah still insists that it will only stop fighting once the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza stops.
Fadlallah also asserted Israel has not been able to push deeper into Lebanon, stop Hezbollah rocket fire, or create the conditions for its citizens to return to communities in the north near the border, which Israel last month made an official war aim.
“Until now, the enemy has been unable to take full control of any village,” Fadlallah told the press conference at Lebanon’s parliament.
Israeli forces just “destroy, shoot and run,” he went on, saying Hezbollah fighters are battling troops who have invaded Lebanese territory by only a few “meters.”
Hezbollah had said it was engaged in close combat with Israeli forces near the border as videos circulating on social media purported to show Israeli flags raised in Lebanese frontier towns.
AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.
Israel launched the ground offensive in southern Lebanon weeks after adding to its official war goals the return home of some 60,000 displaced northern residents. Fearing a Hezbollah onslaught in the north, Israel evacuated the residents shortly after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
A day later, Hezbollah-led forces began attacking border communities and military positions on a near-daily basis, with the terror group saying it was doing so in support of Gaza.
The attacks on northern Israel over the past year have killed 28 civilians, and 43 IDF soldiers have been killed in the attacks and ensuing ground operations in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government has said that Israeli strikes have killed over 2,400 people in Lebanon over the last year, mainly in the last few weeks. According to the IDF, the toll includes at least 960 Hezbollah operatives.