Hezbollah clashed with Israeli troops infiltrating the southern Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras, after earlier pushing back an attempted infiltration elsewhere.

The group destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with guided missiles as they approached near the town, it said in a statement.

In a separate statement it said that several Israeli troops were killed and wounded in combat in both Maroun al-Ras and Odaissah, where its fighters fought off an incursion by Israeli infantry soldiers in the morning, forcing them to retreat.

Sky News Arabia quoted an Israeli source as saying that 14 Israeli soldiers were killed in battle on Wednesday.

The Lebanese army announced in a statement that Israeli forces breached the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line, moving around 400m into Lebanese territory, and then withdrew a short time later.

Hours earlier, Hezbollah noted it conducted a series of attacks on Israeli troops stationed along the boundary with Lebanon, targeting three different military positions with rockets and artillery fire, achieving “direct hits”.

Hezbollah’s media chief Mohammad Afif stressed the group has enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back Israeli forces.

Israeli Telegram pages said rescue helicopters were seen transporting soldiers from the northern border to hospitals in Haifa after the attacks. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Since announcing its plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon on Monday evening, Israel has described its operation as one of “limited” commando raids. However, the addition of infantry and armoured troops from the 36th Division, including the Golani Brigade, the 188th Armoured Brigade and the 6th Infantry Brigade, suggests that the operation has moved beyond that.

Israeli calls on Lebanese to leave towns in south Lebanon and in Beirut’s suburbs have become an almost daily occurrence.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 on Lebanon that have killed more than 1,100 and injured over 3,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In a statement, the Lebanese group claimed it inflicted losses on the Israeli troops and forced it to retreat.

It marked the first direct clash between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers since Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring over 3,000 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The top leadership of Hezbollah was killed in the Israeli assaults, including its leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.