In a new development on the Lebanese front and amid the intensification of fighting with the Hezbollah group, the Israeli army announced, on Thursday, the killing of 5 Israeli soldiers and the serious wounding of 9 others.

In a statement issued by it, the Israeli army said that Major Ofek Bachar, 24 years old and a company commander in the Golani Patrol, Captain Elad Siman Tov, 23 years old and the commander of the Golani Patrol crew, Sergeant Eliashiv Eitan Feder, 22 years old and a platoon leader in the Golani Patrol, and Sgt. Yaakov Hillel, 21 years old and a Golani soldier, and Sergeant Yehuda Dror Yahalom, 21 years old and a Golani soldier, were killed in battles in southern Lebanon.

He pointed out that in the battle in which Bakhar, Tov and Vader were killed, an officer and two soldiers were seriously injured, stressing that in the battle in which Hillel and Yahalom were killed, an officer and 4 soldiers were seriously injured.

The Israeli army also announced that an Israeli soldier from the 450th Battalion was injured during a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army announced that the number of soldiers killed since the beginning of the war had risen to 745, including 353 soldiers in ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

He pointed out that the number of soldiers wounded since the beginning of the war had risen to 4,895, including 2,344 in ground operations in the Gaza Strip, stressing that 32 soldiers are now being treated in hospitals for serious wounds, while 195 are suffering from moderate wounds and 43 are suffering from minor wounds.< /p>