Israel’s military announced on Friday that two of its soldiers from the Golani Brigade had been killed in combat, and two others severely injured, in northern Israel.

Israel says its operations in Lebanon seek to allow tens of thousands of its citizens to return home after Hezbollah bombardments during the Gaza war forced them to evacuate from its north.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks, and nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese authorities said.

UN officials said on Friday most of Lebanon’s nearly 900 shelters were full and that people fleeing Israeli military strikes were increasingly sleeping out in the open in streets or in public parks.

An Israeli airstrike early Friday left a four-meter-wide crater by Lebanon’s main border crossing into Syria, blocking the road for cars of people fleeing from Lebanon.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah uses the crossing to bring in weapons into Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have said all trucks are subject to checks and that the crossing is crucial for humanitarian purposes.

People were seen picking their way around the crater on foot on Friday, with suitcases and gallons of fuel to cross into Syria.

Israel has sought to mount ground operations in southern Lebanon after two weeks of intense airstrikes. Hezbollah says it has repelled them with ambushes, rockets, and direct clashes.