The Israeli military faked injuries to its soldiers to trick Hizbollah into believing it caused casualties during Sunday’s round of fighting on the Lebanese border.

Minutes after Hizbollah militants fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli base, the military staged a helicopter evacuation of “wounded” troops wrapped in bandages and covered in fake blood.

The trickery appears to have achieved its goal of convincing Hizbollah that it wounded Israeli troops and therefore did not need to launch any further attacks. The Lebanese militant group released a statement claiming to have “killed and wounded” several Israeli soldiers.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, only revealed several hours later that there were, in fact, no Israeli casualties. “Not even a scratch,” he said.

Israel's military censor temporarily blocked Israeli media from reporting that there were no injuries in order to sustain the illusion. However, an Israeli minister nearly gave the game away before Mr Netanyahu's statement by telling a radio journalist that there did not appear to be any casualties.

The stagecraft reflects a reality about the standoff between Hizbollah and Israel: neither side wants a full-blown war but both sides have to be seen to retaliate to the other’s provocations.

Israel appears to have calculated that if Hizbollah was seen to have injured Israeli troops then it would not feel under pressure to escalate the situation any further.