8 Israeli soldiers killed in Southern Lebanon as troops battle Hezbollah

Israel has confirmed that eight of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon as troops battle Hezbollah militants on the ground after the start of an Israeli incursion into that country. The region braced for further escalation as Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran's ballistic missile attack on Tuesday. The soldiers were killed in two separate events, military officials said.

In Gaza, Israeli ground and air operations in a hard-hit city killed at least 51 people, including women and children, Palestinian medical officials said. Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets across Gaza nearly a year after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack ignited the war.

The escalation on multiple fronts has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East that could further draw in Iran — which backs Hezbollah and Hamas — as well as the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel.

Hezbollah says its fighters clashed with Israeli troops Hezbollah, widely seen as the most powerful armed group in the region, said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in two places inside Lebanon near the border. The Israeli military said ground forces backed by airstrikes had killed militants in “close-range engagements” without saying where. The military also announced that a soldier — a 22-year-old captain in a commando brigade — was killed in combat in Lebanon, the first such death since the start of the latest operations.

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Israeli media reported infantry and tank units operating in southern Lebanon after the military sent thousands of additional troops and artillery to the border. Hezbollah said its fighters wounded and killed a group of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon after detonating an explosive device.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate, saying Iran “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.”  Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for a series of devastating blows Israel has landed in recent weeks against Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began in solidarity with Hamas.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI/AP)