Two Israeli soldiers were wounded this week in a fire fight with guerrilla belonging to the Islamic fundamentalist Hezbollah movement in the western sector of the southern Lebanon security zone.
Sources from Lebanon reported that six Hezbollah gunmen were killed in the clash.
The wounded Israeli soldiers were evacuated to a nearby hospital, where the condition of one was described as critical and the other as moderate to serious.
According to news reports, an Israeli patrol from the Nahal brigade came under fire near the Lebanese village of Beit Lif, located about a mile across the border from the northern Israeli settlement of Zar’it.
The soldiers gave chase after they were attacked, and with the help of air reinforcement, killed the three Hezbollah gunmen. News agencies reported that three other members of the Hezbolla unit were killed as the fighting continued.
The Israeli troops commander in the area said it was unclear whether the terrorists intended to ambush the patrol or were instead planning to infiltrate Israel.
In a separate incident, an Israeli soldier was killed in an accident in southern Lebanon Tuesday night, an army spokesman announced.
First Sgt. Moshe Ohayon, 21, of Afula was killed when a mortar shell prematurely exploded during exchanges of fire between an Israel Defense Force outpost and Hezbollah positions in the eastern sector of the security zone.
The army is investigating the incident.
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