Israel’s military says eight of its soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, its first losses since the start of the ground invasion against the armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said it had destroyed Israeli tanks during the fighting and insisted it had enough men and ammunition to push back the forces.

Earlier, the Israeli military announced that more infantry and armoured troops had joined the operation seeking to dismantle what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanese border villages.

Meanwhile, there have been more Israeli air strikes in Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has its most important base.

Hezbollah has been weakened after two weeks of Israeli strikes and other attacks that have killed more than 1,200 people across Lebanon and displaced around 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.