Four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon when a group of Hezbollah fighters ran out of a tunnel and ambushed them with grenades on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Israeli troops fired on the Hezbollah militants in response but were not sure how many they hit, the military said. It said six other soldiers were wounded in the attack, with three in a serious condition.

Israeli media said the soldiers were from the Carmeli Brigade, which has been fighting as part of the IDF’s 146th Division on the western sector of the Israel-Lebanon border.

The troops, all reservists, were named as Warrant Officer Mordechai Haim Amoyal, 42, from Lod, Sgt Maj Shmuel Harari, 35, from Safed, 31-year-old Master Sgt Shlomo Aviad Nayman, from Mitzpe Yeriho, and 22-year-old Sgt First Class Shuvael Ben-Natan, from Rehalim.