Hezbollah retaliatory strike kills 2 Israeli soldiers, injures 8
Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, has killed two Israeli soldiers in a surprise attack on an Israeli convoy in northern occupied territories.
Hezbollah’s retaliatory attack on Wednesday killed two Israeli soldiers and destroyed at least nine military vehicles.
The Israeli regime responded with combined aerial and ground strikes on southern Lebanon.
Eight Israeli soldiers were also injured, while a Spanish UN peacekeeper was also killed in the clashes. Spanish Foreign Ministry said Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36, was killed during the exchange of fire.
Hezbollah later claimed the attack was carried out in retaliation for a recent Israeli strike that left several top members of Hezbollah dead.
"At 11:25 [Wednesday morning] the Qunaitra Martyrs unit targeted with appropriate missile weapons an Israeli military convoy comprising several vehicles and [transporting] Zionist officers and soldiers causing the destruction of several vehicles and inflicting many casualties on the enemy," a brief statement by Hezbollah read.
Many in Lebanon praised Hezbollah for its prompt response to the Israeli attack. In Beirut, celebratory gunfire could be heard in the afternoon.
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas also commended the move by Hezbollah, describing it as “a natural and legitimate response to Israel's crimes.”
Israel said a 20-year-old sergeant and a 25-year-old captain had been killed in the attack.
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement refuting Israel’s claims that Hezbollah attack was a violation of truce deal signed in 2006. The statement said the attack targeted an Israeli military convoy inside the Shaba’a Farms, which is viewed as occupied Lebanese territory.
Following the attack, Israeli military leaders held an emergency meeting to discuss a response as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military is “ready to act with force on any front.”
Foreign-backed militants in Syria say Israeli jets also hit an area near Damascus international airport.
Following the Hezbollah’s attack, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a message on Twitter that Israel should respond to the attack “in a very harsh and disproportionate manner.”
Tensions have been on the rise in the area after an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian sector of the occupied Golan Heights killed six Hezbollah fighters and a top Iranian commander on January 18.
Press TV is running a live update on the situation in southern Lebanon.
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