Eight Israeli soldiers were killed fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli army said on Wednesday.

Six soldiers from the Egoz commando unit were killed in a gun battle in a southern Lebanese village, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that five more soldiers were wounded in the same incident.

Two soldiers from the Golani recon unit were killed in a separate incident in which another soldier was seriously wounded, the IDF said.

It earlier named Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, as the first soldier killed since it began ground operations in southern Lebanon.

Israel launched its ground incursion of Lebanon early on Tuesday morning. The IDF has long warned such an action was possible in order to push Hezbollah back from the border and allow 60,000 citizens to return to their homes in northern Israel.

Hezbollah said it destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with guided missiles as they approached the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras, which is around 500 metres from the Israeli border.

The group also said it killed and wounded several Israeli troops in combat in Maroun al-Ras and Odaisseh, adding that its fighters forced Israeli soldiers to retreat after repelling an incursion in the morning.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli “enemy” force breached the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon and advanced 400 metres into Lebanese territory in the areas of Khirbet Yaroun and Bab al-Adaisseh before withdrawing.

The oldest of the killed Israeli soldiers was 23.