The Israeli army confirmed early Sunday that 24 of its soldiers had been killed the previous day in a series of clashes with the Hezbollah militia as it expanded its ground operations in south Lebanon.
The updated toll includes the five members of the flight crew of a helicopter that was shot down, and 85 other soldiers were wounded in the fighting, an army spokesman said.
Israeli forces suffered their most deaths Saturday since the Jewish state launched a massive offensive in Lebanon on July 12.
The latest deaths announced by the Israeli army bring to 110 the number of confirmed deaths in the ranks of the Israeli military since the operation began. Forty Israeli civilians have also been killed in the fighting.
The assault, the largest in a quarter century, was launched in response to a border attack by the Shiite Hezbollah militia during which eight Israeli soldiers were killed and two others wounded.