Northern Command Major General Udi Adam was quoted by Ha'aretz newspaper as saying that Israel is at war and although human life is important, now is not the time to count the dead.

"We must change our way of thinking. Human life is important, but we are at war, and it costs human lives. We won't count the dead at present, only at the end. We'll cry for the dead and will encourage the fighters. There are more places like Meron A-Ras, and unfortunately we'll have to reach them," Adam said.

According to Adam, 20 Hezbollah militants have been killed in south Lebanon during clashes in recent days. IDF soldiers in the village of Meron A-Ras found a stockpile of Katyusha rockets in a mosque, as well as weapons used by the militants.

Four IDF soldiers were killed in fierce exchange of fire on Thursday.

Adam stressed that part of the border area, which used to be frequented by Hezbollah, have been cleared of them since fighting began and a great deal of Hezbollah infrastructure also damaged.

Thousands of reservists were being called up to the north throughout Friday to beef up forces stationed in the area in preparation for a possible ground operation.