Hezbollah claims 'confirmed' casualties among Israeli soldiers

By Wassim Samih Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) — Lebanese group Hezbollah said Saturday that it dealt the Israeli army "confirmed" casualties in a cross-border attack on two military barracks.

Hezbollah said in separate statements that its members launched guided missiles "at a Humvee vehicle belonging to the occupation forces in the vicinity of the Dovif barracks, resulting in casualties among its crew, including killed and injured."

"As an Israeli tank advanced towards the targeted site, the (Hezbollah) fighters targeted it with guided missiles," it added.

In another statement, the group noted that its members targeted an Israeli infantry unit "in the occupied Hunin barracks (Rameem)," and confirmed that there were casualties on the Israeli side.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army announced that militants had fired an anti-tank missile from southern Lebanon towards the Rameem area, without reporting any casualties among its soldiers as of 1700GMT.

Tensions have flared along the Israeli-Lebanese border amid an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The escalation came amid Israeli airstrikes against the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas into Israeli border towns.

At least 4,385 Palestinians, including 1,756 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, while the figure stands at more than 1,400 people in Israel.

Hezbollah has fought several wars with Israel, the latest of which was in 2006, during which the Lebanese group struck major Israeli cities with rockets, causing significant material damage.

Over 1,000 Lebanese were killed in the conflict, while much of southern Lebanon — a Hezbollah stronghold — was devastated by Israeli attacks.

* Writing by Rania Abu Shamala