BEIRUT, Lebanon 

Hezbollah on Thursday announced the deaths of two of its members in clashes with Israel in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of its members killed since Oct. 8 last year to 439.

The group noted that the two fighters were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” referring to the border clashes with Israel.

Israel has occupied territories in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria for decades.

The Lebanese resistance group separately claimed to have targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Abu Dajaja hilltop border area with artillery shells.

Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with an offensive against the Gaza Strip which has killed more than 41,100 people since Oct. 7 last year following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul