Eight Israeli Soldiers Wounded in Secret Hezbollah Clashes

(MENAFN) Eight Israeli soldiers were wounded in a covert cross-border operation north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, Israeli media revealed Tuesday — exposing fresh hostilities despite a fragile ceasefire between the two sides.

Israeli media reported the casualties stemmed from three separate, close-range engagements with Hezbollah fighters. The operation had been classified and withheld from publication until Tuesday, with neither outlet specifying the exact dates of the clashes or when the soldiers sustained their injuries.

The confrontations broke out after troops from the Golani Brigade and Egoz Unit crossed the Litani River toward the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah — a village roughly 10 kilometers from the Israeli border — in what media described as an operation to "neutralize rocket launchers." The mission spanned approximately one week.

Hezbollah had not issued any immediate response to the reports at the time of publication.

The disclosure lands against a backdrop of deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Lebanon. Since March 2, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,869 people, wounded upward of 8,730 others, and uprooted more than 1.6 million residents — roughly one-fifth of the country's entire population — according to official Lebanese figures.

The violence has persisted unabated despite a ceasefire announced on April 17 and subsequently extended through May 17, with the Israeli army continuing daily bombardments and carrying out sweeping demolitions of homes across dozens of villages in southern Lebanon.

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