2 more Hezbollah fighters killed in clashes with Israeli forces

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Two Hezbollah fighters were killed in clashes with the Israeli army, the Lebanon-based group announced late Friday.

In a statement, the group identified the fighters as Saeed Mahmoud Diab, 34, and Ali Akram Al-Haq, 26, who were killed "on the road to Jerusalem," which means they were killed while fighting Israel forces in support of Palestinians who have been subjected to a brutal Tal Aviv onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

The new fatalities bring the total number of Hezbollah fighters killed in combat with Israeli forces since last October to 428, according to an Anadolu tally.

Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks and after the July 30 killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,200 Palestinians since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi