UPDATE - Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for operation in southern Lebanon against Israeli soldiers

REVISES DEATH TOLL OF HEZBOLLAH

By Mohamed Majed and Wassim Seifeddine

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility Monday for an operation in southern Lebanon against Israeli soldiers.

“We declare our responsibility for the operation that was carried out this afternoon in southern Lebanon on the border with occupied Palestine, which led to injuries among Israeli soldiers,” the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said in a statement.

Earlier, the Israeli army announced the killing of “a number of militants who crossed the border from Lebanon.”

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that three Israeli soldiers were injured in a clash with gunmen who infiltrated the border.

In a related development, three members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group were killed on Monday in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, according to Al-Mayadeen TV, which is known for being close to Hezbollah.

According to the official Lebanese National News Agency, Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of the border town of Marwahin in the south of Lebanon on Monday.

"Israeli bombardment was renewed on the outskirts of the Marwahin border in southern Lebanon with phosphorus shells," it added.

On Sunday, Hezbollah reaffirmed its support for Palestinian resistance, saying it is "not neutral" in the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.

The Gaza-based resistance group Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and growing settler violence.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 687, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said Monday. It said the number of injured had surged to 2,900.

The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli army has "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids.

The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.

At least 900 Israelis have been killed and over 2,600 others wounded in the fighting, according to local media.