Four Hezbollah fighters killed and five Israeli troops injured since start of year

Four Hezbollah fighters have been killed and five Israeli soldiers injured since the start of the new year, as the border conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group nears its third month.

This comes as Israel has escalated threats to launch a full-scale war against Hezbollah and has withdrawn troops from Gaza to redeploy on the border with Lebanon.

Three Hezbollah fighters from the southern Lebanese town of Kfarkela were killed on Monday afternoon, the group said. They were identified as Jihad Musa Cheet, Musa Hassan Cheet and Hussein Ahmed Yahya.

A fourth fighter, Abdul Jalil Ali Hamza, from Bekaa, was killed in overnight Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon, Hezbollah said yesterday.

On Monday evening, the Israeli military said at least five reservists were injured in rocket attacks near Adamit kibbutz on the Lebanese border.

“A number of launches from the territory of Lebanon towards the Adamite area were detected,” Israeli military army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said on X.

Five Israeli reservists soldiers were “slightly injured” in the attacks, he said.

“The soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment,” Admiral Hagari said.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Hezbollah has engaged Israel in a mid-intensity frontier conflict in a bid to divert Israel from its assault on Gaza. Hezbollah is a strategic ally of Hamas, which governs Gaza and also receives backing from Iran.

Hezbollah has remained relatively restrained, striking mostly Israeli military targets.

Israel has responded aggressively, intensifying its responses and occasionally striking deeper into south Lebanon.

On Monday, a senior Israeli official told Reuters that some withdrawing Israeli troops in Gaza would be repositioned in north Israel in preparation for a potential escalation against Hezbollah.

“The situation on the Lebanese front will not be allowed to continue,” the official said.

In Lebanon, the conflict has killed more than 160 people, mostly Hezbollah and allied militia combatants, plus at least 20 civilians.

On the Israeli side, at least five civilians and nine soldiers have been killed.

Israel has escalated threats of full-scale war against Hezbollah and is moving troops from Gaza to the Lebanese border