(VOVworld) - Israel declared on Sunday a high state of alert along its border following news of a prominent Hezbollah military leader being killed during an air raid on Damascus.

Samir Kuntar and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, at a stadium in Beirut's southern suburbs, July 16, 2008. (Photo: AFP)

Israel has ordered its regular patrols on the border with Lebanon to retreat and its soldiers not to leave their fortified positions in anticipation of any military developments.

The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon have also intensified patrols and observation operations along the Blue Line, a border demarcation between Israel and Lebanon that was created by the United Nations in 2000.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group confirmed Sunday that Samir Kuntar, its leader of the "Islamic Resistance", was killed in an Israeli raid on the residential district of Jaramana in the Syrian capital Damascus.