8 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon fighting against Hezbollah

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed fighting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said troops died in two separate firefights in southern Lebanon – one in an ambush near Hezbollah's tunnels – after the Jewish state launched a limited ground invasion there this week.

The fighting comes at a time when Israel faces threats on three major fronts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Jewish state was engaged in a “tough war against Iran's axis of evil.”

He has vowed to retaliate against Iran's unprecedented ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, in which nearly 200 sophisticated projectiles were fired at Tel Aviv and other areas and dozens of attacks were carried out.

Netanyahu has also promised to shut down Hezbollah's rocket-firing capabilities in southern Lebanon and continue the fight in Gaza to eliminate Hamas.

“We will rescue our hostages in the south, we will return our residents in the north, we will guarantee the eternity of Israel,” he said in a statement.

The first fatality in Israel's invasion of Lebanon has been identified as Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster – a 22-year-old commander of the elite Egoz Commando Unit who was killed after a firefight with Hezbollah operatives.

Four other members of his unit were also killed, including: Captain Harel Etinger, 23; Sergeant. First Class Noam Barzilay, 22; Sergeant. First Class or Mantzur, 21; and Sgt. First Class Nazar Itkin, 21, the Times of Israel reported.

According to the military, five soldiers were seriously injured in this attack.

Meanwhile, Capt. Itai Ariel Giat, 23, of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, as well as Staff Sgt. Almken Terefe, 21, and Staff Sgt. Ido Broyer, 21, both from the Golani Brigade reconnaissance unit, were killed in the second incident.

Earlier, the Times of London reported that several Israeli troops were killed after they were ambushed near Hezbollah tunnels near the southern Lebanese village of Odaisseh.

A survivor of that ambush told the outlet that all members of his unit were injured in the attack – but they managed to retreat.

Hezbollah, for its part, said its fighters injured and killed a group of Israeli soldiers after detonating an explosive device.

The casualties reported Wednesday were the deadliest suffered by the Israeli military on the Lebanon front in a year of clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group.

The developments came just hours after Hezbollah said its fighters were fighting Israeli forces in the border town of Maroun el-Ras – marking the first clashes on the ground since Israel began pushing into its northern neighbor to challenge Iran to dismantle a supported terrorist group.

The group said it also fired rockets at military posts inside Israel.

Hezbollah's media chief, Mohammad Afif, said these fighting were only “the first round” and that the group had enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back Israel.

During the Israeli operation, the Iran-backed terrorist group fired more than 240 rockets across the border, according to the Israeli military.

The Israeli military confirmed it was strengthening its presence by calling up regular infantry and armored units to join its ground operations in Lebanon – a day after Iran attacked with a barrage of ballistic missiles.

As for Israel's retaliation, experts and media reports indicate that Iran's nuclear facilities and gas and oil rigs are potential targets.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet called the possible attack “a once-in-50-year opportunity.”

“We must end Iran's nuclear program, we must attack Iran's energy facilities and we must attack the regime itself immediately,” Bennet said in a CNN interview.

“It is time to strike, destroy the nuclear program and finally allow the Iranian people to revolt,” he added.

However, President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he opposed such a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear program – even though he had promised to support Israel in the wake of the Iranian attack.

“We will discuss with the Israelis what they are going to do, but all seven of us (G7 nations) agree that they have the right to respond, but they should respond proportionately,” Biden said.

According to Axios, Iran could also carry out attacks on Iranian soil or attempt to disable Tehran's air defense system.

As it faces renewed threats from its northern border, Israel also suffered a terrorist attack in Jaffa shortly before the Iranian attack, in which two gunmen killed seven people and injured 16 others.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and said two of its operatives, Mohammad Mesek and Ahmed Himouni, carried out the fatal shooting.

One of the victims was identified as Inbar Segev-Vigder, who died while protecting her nine-month-old son.

With post wires