"The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman has just permitted us to report that two IDF soldiers were killed yesterday in south Lebanon. The two are Staff Sergeant Eyal Kohen, 20, from Beersheba and Staff Sergeant Ohad Nahmias, 20, from Akko.

Ou correspondent Gur Tzalalyahin is here with the details of the incident:

(Tzalalyahin) The two soldiers who were killed were part of a combined force made up of Nahal Brigade troops and armoured units that was moving in the western sector of the security zone.

An explosive charge went off near the IDF troops travelling in armoured vehicles on their way to carry out an operational mission in the security zone's western sector.

Four soldiers were wounded by the blast and two of them, Staff Sergeants Eyal Kohen and Ohad Nahmias, later died in hospital. The families of the slain soldiers have been notified.

(Presenter) Please stay with us, Gur, because our correspondent in the north Menahem Horowitz is on the phone from the northern border with more details.

(Horowitz) The soldiers, in a combined force made up of armoured units and Nahal troops, were traveling in armoured vehicles.

At around 2000 (1600 GMT) last night they set out on a routine mission near the Karkom outpost in the security zone's western sector.

Apparently there were two armoured vehicles. One of them set off an explosive charge, and the resulting shock wave caused its engine to stall.

The second vehicle turned back and tried to extricate the soldiers from the first armoured vehicle and apparently detonated a second explosive charge which had been placed at the site. As a result of the second explosion, four soldiers were injured.

Two of them, who sustained extremely serious wounds, died several hours later. The other two soldiers were hospitalized.

At the same time, the terrorists fired dozens of mortar shells at additional rescue forces that attempted to reach the site from Israel and from the nearby Karkom outpost. The fact that the terrorists were able to maintain such heavy shelling against the rescue forces, the other troops still trapped at the site, and the nearby Karkom outpost - along with their earlier use of explosive charges to ambush the Israeli troops - indicates that the incident was planned in advance by the terrorists.

Israel Air Force (IAF) jets immediately bombed the terrorist bases from which the mortar shells were being fired at the rescue forces, the troops at the site of the incident, and the Karkom outpost.

23 dead this year

(Presenter) It is worth noting, Menahem Horowitz, that the death of Staff Sergeant Eyal Kohen and Staff Sergeant Ohad Nahmias raises the number of Israeli casualties in Lebanon this year to 23 - 22 IDF soldiers and one civilian.

(Horowitz) Yes, those are the figures from the beginning of 1998. The last week has been the most difficult for Israel since the 1997 ambush against the navy commandos.

There have been Israeli casualties in different locations in Lebanon. The western sector was more quiet than the other sectors in the recent period, with most of the activity taking place in the eastern sector, around the Talkaba outpost in the central sector and the vicinity of al-Rayhan and Sujud in the eastern sector.

In those areas, IDF soldiers managed to kill several terrorists who were planting explosive charges without suffering any casualties. Last night, there was very heavy shelling along the entire perimeter of the security zone. The IAF bombed the terrorists in retaliation. Two IDF soldiers were killed and another two injured.

(Presenter) What is happening in the area right now, Menahem?

(Horowitz) We can still hear the occasional thud of an explosion, but the security zone is quiet. Early this morning, the IDF's Northern Command began to examine what can be done to reduce the number of casualties among IDF troops in south Lebanon.

I believe this latest incident will put Lebanon at the top of Jerusalem's agenda as soon as the prime minister returns from Europe this afternoon. Apparently, more fundamental decisions will be made with regard to the security zone in south Lebanon."

Hezbollah radio report

"The commanders of the Israeli occupation forces have set up a commission of inquiry to learn how the Islamic Resistance mujahedin managed to reach Markaba position once again and plant a large device, which killed an officer and a soldier from the Golani Brigade, and then retreat without being detected.

The occupation troops' command has instructed the agent militia, South Lebanese Army, SLA, to interrogate the inhabitants of villages adjacent to the scene of the operation, claiming that they collaborated with the resistance fighters.

Zionist security agencies have set up another specialized security team to study every videotape released by the Islamic esistance on its operations inside the occupied zone.

The team, which is equipped with video cameras has been assigned the task of determining the locations from which the Resistance elements could have filmed the operations, the distance from the target, and the number of people participating in the operation and in filming the report.

According to information, the findings of this team are usually approximate and lack accuracy and objectivity."