By Wesam Bahrani
TEHRAN - The Israeli military has announced the death of five more soldiers during combat in southern Lebanon.
The soldiers “fell during combat in southern Lebanon,” a statement read, without specifying where in Lebanon.
There are conflicting media reports on the number of casualties sustained among the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) over the past 24 hours.
The Israeli military has been widely accused of concealing the true number of its casualties.
News related to the Israeli wars in Gaza and Lebanon, including footage, “must be reviewed by the IDF censorship office before publication”.
According to Israeli Army Radio, five armored soldiers were killed and 19 injured after Hezbollah targeted a house they were holed up in in southern Lebanon with a barrage of rockets.
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan published a similar story. Five soldiers were killed when a rocket (not rockets, as Israeli Army Radio reported) struck the building they were in.
However, the broadcaster reported 24 other soldiers were injured in the attack.
Other reports indicate up to 37 Israeli soldiers were injured over the past 24 hours. This is while some Hebrew media outlets reported a rise in the number of soldiers killed to 13.
Nevertheless, there appears to be a consensus among Hebrew media that the past 24 hours were one of the most difficult for the IOF since ground operations in Lebanon began on September 30.
According to the IOF, since September 30, the number of Israeli army fatalities has risen to 32 inside Lebanese territory.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that since the start of the Israeli ground war more than 70 officers and soldiers have been killed and over 600 other wounded.
The figures don't include the Israeli casualties, which Hezbollah reported through its statements on Thursday.
The Lebanese resistance also reported on Wednesday the destruction of 28 Merkava tanks, 4 military bulldozers, an armored vehicle, and an armored personal carrier since Israeli ground operations began.
Furthermore, three Israeli Hermes-450 drones and one Hermes-900 drone have been shot down.
These losses do not include any of the casualties or damage from Hezbollah missile and drone attacks inside Israel.
The numbers inside Lebanon have now risen following Thursday’s operations, which saw the “destruction of two Merkava tanks, confirming casualties among both their crews, the killing and wounding of occupation soldiers at the border in complex ambushes and point-blank confrontations, and the striking of soldier gatherings in military sites and bases across the occupied north.”
According to Hezbollah’s Media Office, the Israeli military has failed to take “full control” or “fully occupy” a single village on the Lebanese border despite the heavy casualties it has suffered.
Hassan Fadhlallah, a Hezbollah parliamentarian, echoed those remarks on Thursday, saying, “The enemy has not fully controlled any village, and there are enough resistance fighters on the frontlines”.
This is despite the fact that tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers have been deployed to the Lebanese border. Experts suggest between 70,000 to 80,000.
In an indication that the ground invasion of Lebanon is not going according to the plan, senior Israeli military officials have spoken about ending it and resorting to air raids.
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