Two soldiers dead

Ground offensive: Lebanon’s army returns fire

Lebanese soldiers after an Israeli air force attack in a suburb of Beirut

(Bild: APA/AFP/Fadel ITANI)

The ground offensive, described by Israel as a "limited operation", has apparently not only claimed the lives of several Israeli soldiers, but also at least two Lebanese soldiers. The Lebanese army has now also returned fire.

"A soldier was killed after the Israeli enemy targeted a military post in the region of Bint Jbeil in the south, and military personnel returned fire," the Lebanese armed forces said on Thursday.

Smoke rising after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb

(Bild: APA/AFP)

Earlier, Lebanon had reported the death of one of its soldiers who had been involved in a Red Cross rescue mission in the south of the country.

Hezbollah: We destroyed Israeli tanks
On Tuesday night, the Israeli army said it had begun a "limited" ground operation in the south of the country. On Wednesday, it reported the first casualties in its own ranks since the start of this ground offensive. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting with Hezbollah. The pro-Iranian terrorist militia claimed on Wednesday that several Israeli tanks had also been destroyed. Three Merkava tanks were destroyed with rockets "as they advanced towards the village of Maroun al-Ras", the militia said in a statement on Wednesday.

In an interview with the CNN news channel on Thursday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bu Habib explained that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a ceasefire with Israel shortly before he was killed by the Israeli air force. Both the USA and France had been informed of this.

Nevertheless, the guns on both sides are not silent. The Israeli air force attacked the center of Beirut from the air on Thursday. It was a targeted airstrike, the military announced. Six people were killed, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. This attack was the closest the Israeli military had come to the center of Beirut so far. Reporters from the Reuters news agency reported a huge explosion in Beirut. Security sources reported that a building near the parliament in the Bachoura district had been hit.

Hezbollah media office attacked
Apparently, the media office of the Lebanese militia south of Beirut was also targeted. The building, from which Hezbollah also maintains contact with local and foreign journalists, was hit, Hezbollah announced. Videos showing moments shortly after the attack went viral on social media (see videos above). According to the videos, clouds of white smoke rose in an area with ten-storey buildings in some places.