Israeli military announces its first combat death after ground raids into Lebanon: Report

The Israeli military has announced its first combat death since launching ground operations in Lebanon this week. The military said on Wednesday that Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, a 22-year-old in a commando brigade, was killed in combat in Lebanon, according to Associated Press reports.

Israeli ground troops have carried out incursions into Lebanon against Hezbollah, and Tehran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles on Israel late on Tuesday. The escalation on multiple fronts has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East that could draw in Iran which backs Hezbollah and Hamas as well as the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel.

Also read: Hezbollah launches rockets from Lebanon into central Israel hours after IDF's 'limited' ground raids (WATCH)

Hezbollah, widely seen as the most powerful armed group in the region, said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in two places inside Lebanon near the border. The Israeli military said ground forces backed by airstrikes had killed militants in close-range engagements without saying where.

Earlier Wednesday, the IDF expanded its orders for people in southern Lebanon to leave their homes and evacuate north, away from the country's border with Israel, as its cross-border incursions to hunt down Hezbollah fighters and destroy their weapons and combat infrastructure appeared to intensify.

• IDF
• Israel Defence Forces
• Israel-Hamas war
• Israel-Palestine conflict
• Lebanon
• Middle east crisis
• Tel Aviv
• Hezbollah