Israel says 10 soldiers wounded in fighting in key Lebanese town

The Israeli military said Tuesday that overnight clashes between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants left 10 soldiers wounded in the strategically significant southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, which Israeli forces have encircled.

The escalation of fighting in the town comes as Israeli and Lebanese officials were to hold talks in Washington Tuesday aimed at ending the war.

According to the military, Israeli troops have now fully surrounded the town, marking a notable advance in their ongoing ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

On Monday, the military said its forces killed more than 100 Hezbollah fighters in and around the town over the past few days.

Just three miles from the Israeli border, Bint Jbeil has long been both a symbolic and strategic flashpoint in confrontations between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military also said Tuesday that a soldier had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the first since a U.S.-Iran truce went into effect -- a truce that Israel insists doesn't include the country where it's fighting Tehran-backed Hezbollah.