By Wassim Seif El Din
BEIRUT (AA) - Two more Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon on Friday.
In two separate statements, the Lebanese group Hezbollah mourned Hadi Jihad Dib, 27, and Mahdi Mahmoud Qassibani, 30, from southern Lebanon.
The new fatalities brought the number of Hezbollah fighters killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Oct. 8, 2023 to 404, according to an Anadolu tally.
Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on July 30.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 39,700 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi.