Two IDF soldiers were killed and six were wounded on Thursday in a heavy exchange of gunfire with Hizbullah guerillas near the village of Maroun a-Ras, adjacent to Moshav Avivim but on the Lebanese side of the border, it was released for publication early Friday morning. Ground troops were sent across the border to the same sector as where two soldiers were killed the previous day, in order to engage Hizbullah guerillas that were firing mortar rounds towards Avivim. Soldiers operating in Maroun a-Ras reported finding rocket launchers, explosives and other weapons in a mosque there. According to the IDF, 10 Hizbullah cells were hit by the IDF throughout the day, as well as three Hizbullah command centers. The army estimated that between 30 and 40 Hizbullah terrorists were killed. However, a high-ranking IDF officer said the difficulties troops encountered in Thursday's fighting could prompt a larger-scale ground offensive into southern Lebanon.
Hizbullah also launched between eight and 10 rockets at Israel from southern Lebanon after a period of seven hours in which no rockets had been fired. An IDF soldier was seriously wounded earlier Thursday morning during clashes with a Hizbullah terrorist cell near Avivim. Also on Thursday, two more IDF soldiers were wounded, one lightly and one moderately, when their tank was hit by an anti-tank missile during an operation in southern Lebanon. The troops were evacuated under fire.