By Yakoota Al Ahmad
ISTANBUL (AA) – Three more Hezbollah fighters were killed in border clashes with the Israeli army, the Lebanese group said Sunday.
Hezbollah identified the slain fighters as Hassan Mustafa, Mohammad Haidar and Ali Hijazi, “who have ascended on the road to Jerusalem,” according to the group’s statement.
As a result, the death toll of Hezbollah members due to clashes with Israel has risen to 407 since Oct. 8 last year, 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 Fuad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 39,800 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala