A total of at least 12 people were killed on Wednesday in southern Lebanon, including six Israeli soldiers and six people who died when Israeli jets hit a building, reports from both Israel and Lebanon showed.

Israel suffered one of the deadliest days of its ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday when six of its soldiers were killed in combat near the border.Their deaths mean 47 Israeli troops have been killed in combat with Hezbollah since September 30,

An Israeli strike on a home in northern Gaza killed three siblings aged 6 and under, among at least six people killed in airstrikes in the war-ravaged territory, Palestinian medics said. In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building south of Beirut on Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 15, the Health Ministry said.