ISTANBUL

The Israeli army on Thursday morning said one of its military officers was killed and a soldier injured in clashes with the Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the army identified the officer as Sgt. Maj. Ronny Ganizate of the Alon Brigade's 5030th Battalion.

A reserve soldier from the same battalion was seriously wounded in the same incident and taken to hospital, it added.

In separate statements as of Oct. 1, Hezbollah said its fighters thwarted several attempts by the Israeli army to infiltrate southern Lebanon.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,323 people, injuring over 3,700 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in yearlong cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 42,000 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching on Oct. 1 a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara