 "Israel-Hezbollah battle in Lebanon: What’s going on? Is Israel army suffering a blow?")
The Israel-Hezbollah-Iran conflict just seems to be escalating and hopes of it stopping keep dimming. After Tehran’s rain of 180 missiles on Israel on Tuesday (October 1), the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government is continuing its ground offensive in Lebanon, despite losing eight soldiers in the combat.
On Wednesday (October 2), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced its first fatalities of Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon during battles against Hezbollah operatives in the south of the country.
In retaliation, the Jewish nation launched an airstrike on a building in central Beirut , killing at least six people. This is Israel’s first strike close to Beirut’s centre and was just metres away from Lebanon’s parliament. There were five other airstrikes overnight against targets in the southern suburb of Dahieh.
Finding it hard to track what’s happening in this unfolding conflict. We break it down for you.
Israeli troops killed in Lebanon
On Monday (September 30), Israel announced that it had begun a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.
Following this announcement, on Wednesday, the IDF announced that it had lost eight soldiers and seven others were injured in separate incidents. The statement came just hours after the military said it was engaged in “close-range” firefights inside Lebanese territory.
Later, the IDF identified the eight slain soldiers to be: Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a team commander in the Egoz Commando Unit, Cpt. Harel Etinger, 23, a team commander in the Egoz Commando Unit, Captain Itai Ariel Giat, 23, of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, Captain Itai Ariel Giat, 23, of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, Sergeant First Class Noam Barzilay, 22, of the Egoz Commando Unit, Sergeant First Class Or Mantzur, 21, of the Egoz Commando Unit, Sergeant First Class Nazar Itkin, 21, of the Egoz Commando Unit, Staff Sergeant Almken Terefe, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, Staff Sergeant Ido Broyer, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit.
According to the IDF, the six soldiers of the Egoz unit died during a gun battle with Hezbollah operatives in a southern Lebanon village. Meanwhile, the two soldiers of the Golani recon unit died in a separate incident.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condoled the loss of the eight soldiers, saying: “I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to the families of our heroes who fell today in Lebanon, may God avenge them, and may their memories be a blessing.”
The IDF, later, said that the gunfight had resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Hezbollah operatives.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah , the Lebanese-based militant group, claimed it had killed the Israeli soldiers by detonating explosive devices in the building where they were stationed. In a statement, it said its fighters detonated an explosive device that killed and wounded members of the Israeli army trying to circumvent the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon.
The group, which is part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, also said that it had “destroyed three Merkava tanks with rockets as they advanced towards the village of Maroun al-Ras”.
Hezbollah’s edge over Israel
Many note that the deaths of the eight IDF soldiers raises questions over the scope of a war between Hezbollah and Israel. According to some defence experts, if Israel continues to lose troops in Lebanon against Hezbollah, it would shape the depth of the offensive. Moreover, it relieves memories of the 2006 Lebanon invasion when at least 20 tanks were destroyed and 121 Israeli soldiers died.
Miri Eisin, a former senior intelligence officer of the Israeli military, told Washington Post that the killing of the eight troops lays bare the fact that the ground attacks could result in long battles. She said that the military may move its operation to night time, as it would be at an advantage.
Moreover, Hezbollah holds the edge in Lebanon as they are locals there. Fighters of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, train in the area and know the roads and the terrain like the back of their hand.
The number of Hezbollah fighters is also significant. Since 2006, Hezbollah has grown from about 5,000 soldiers deployed to the south to tens of thousands of fighters. The Lebanese group also has combat experience after it fought in the 2013 Syria war in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Hezbollah also can make use of its extensive tunnel network, which is bound to give them an edge in warfare. “Hezbollah has drones, too, and they can spot Israeli troop movements far better than they could in 2006,” Al Jazeera’s defence editor Alex Gatopoulos said. “Both sides have eyes in the battlefield [but] if you have subterranean [capabilities] which the enemy does not know about, it gives you the ability to pop up and fight in a place and direction of your choosing that will surprise the enemy.”
Currently, Israeli officials have stated that their objective in Lebanon is to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out an October 7-style attack in northern Israel. Moreover, it wants to push Hezbollah away from the border so that Israelis who have been displaced can return safely to their homes in northern Israel.
Meanwhile, the United Nations and other countries have questioned the high death toll that Israel is extracting with its airstrikes in Lebanon. As per Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 1,000 people, including children, have died in the past 10 days — since Israel began raining down hell on Lebanon. Moreover, the UN has said that the violence has displaced more than one million people in Lebanon.
The ground invasion also marks a dangerous new phase in the long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with many fearing that it would result in an all-out war between the militant group, backed by Iran and its other proxies, and Israel.
Israel launches counter airstrikes
After Israel’s military suffered its deadliest day on the Lebanese front, it launched strikes on central Beirut — a first since 2006 — killing six people, including an American resident. Residents in Beirut said that they heard a missile flying above the city before hearing the explosion.
The strike hit a medical centre belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Organisation. This is the second airstrike on central Beirut this week, with most strikes having previously been confined to suburbs in the city’s south.
According to AFP journalists, some buildings began shaking owing to the airstrikes.
With inputs from agencies
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