Israel's military says eight of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon after forces battled Hezbollah militants, following the start of an Israeli incursion into the country. The losses were the deadliest suffered by Israel on the Lebanon front in the past year of border-area clashes.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that regular infantry and armoured units were joining ground operations in southern Lebanon, but said they would remain limited and localised in scope.

The Israeli military began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, targeting what it said early Tuesday was Hezbollah military infrastructure in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border, the first such incursion by Israel into its northern neighbor’s territory in nearly two decades.

Israel intensified its attacks Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, meeting its first fierce resistance since its ground campaign began two days ago. The Israeli military reported the death of eight soldiers.

Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets across Gaza nearly a year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in the Palestinian territory, and even as

Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries.