17 Israeli soldiers injured in Lebanon clashes

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - At least 17 Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to Israeli media.

Israel Hayom newspaper said the soldiers were admitted to the Galilee Medical Center in northern Israel on Sunday morning.

It said four of the soldiers were in moderate condition, while the rest sustained minor injuries.

The Israeli army said early Sunday that two soldiers were seriously injured in clashes in southern Lebanon.

It came after the Lebanese group Hezbollah said that its fighters had thwarted an Israeli infiltration attempt in the border town of Ramiah.

The group confirmed that several soldiers were also killed and injured in a bomb explosion in the town of Blida in southern Lebanon.

According to military observers, Israel has been under strict censorship regarding its casualties in the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against, what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed more than 42,200 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara