20 Israeli soldiers killed, wounded in ambush, Hezbollah says

Twenty Israeli soldiers were killed or wounded after attempting to advance towards the Lebanese towns of Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun on Friday afternoon, Hezbollah said in a statement.

The Lebanese group said the Israeli army attempted to advance under artillery cover but were ambushed with explosive devices. The fighters then engaged the army "from close range reaching zero distance".

Soldiers who were killed or wounded were evacuated, while the remaining Israeli force retreated under artillery cover, the statement posted to Telegram said.

The statement also referenced images shared by the Israeli army of a southern Lebanese village which it said it had reached, saying that the Israelis had taken significant casualties to obtain the pictures.

The Israeli army had published images of soldiers in houses and villages where they said they had uncovered Hezbollah munitions.

The Israeli army, which maintains strict censorship over its operations and casualties, has not confirmed Hezbollah's statement.

However, it confirmed nine deaths of soldiers this week on the northern front with Lebanon, including eight killed in one incident.

On Friday, Israel announced that a further two soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded by a drone strike launched from Iraq towards an army base in the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel dramatically increased its attack on Lebanon last month, carrying out devastating strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon.

These have resulted in the killing of many Hezbollah leaders and officials, including secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah.

Now attempting a ground invasion, Israel has come up against stiff resistance from the group, which says it pushed back an Israeli attempt to infiltrate the town of Odaisseh on Wednesday.

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel originally started on October 8 last year, one day after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel which led to the Gaza war.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah follows the launching of rockets at Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights on 8 October. The two sides traded fire across the border for nearly a year, until Israel ramped up its assault on Lebanon this week.