Israeli military says 12,500 Hezbollah targets struck since October 2023
As a fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah enters a third day, the Israeli military has published a summary of its military operations against the Lebanese armed group since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023.
The Israeli military claims that it has struck more than 12,500 Hezbollah targets in that time, including 1,600 command centres and 1,000 weapons depots.
During the ground offensive, which began in late September, it says more than 100 special operations were carried out by 14 Israeli military brigade-level task forces.
The Israeli military has claimed it killed at least 2,500 Hezbollah members and senior officials.
Among the dead are Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah; 13 members of the Lebanese group’s top leadership; four Hezbollah commanders at the division level; 24 brigade-level commanders; 27 battalion-level commanders; 63 company-level commanders; and 22 platoon-level commanders.
The Israeli military also claims to have captured about 12,000 explosive devices and drones, as well as 13,000 rockets, launchers, and antitank and antiaircraft missile systems, along with 121,000 pieces of communications equipment.
1,600 command centers? lol
Netanyahu says he agreed Lebanon ceasefire, but ‘didn’t sign on to an end to the war'
The Israeli prime minister addressed his base through a very right-wing Israeli media outlet, Channel 14, and in that interview, he said that the army would be ready to relaunch the war against Lebanon at the sight of any violation of the ceasefire.
He even said that he didn’t sign on to an end to the war, just a ceasefire.
In the meantime, of course, you have the Israeli army using firepower to create no-go zones in southern Lebanon which it still – de facto – occupies to strike at suspected Hezbollah sites and they say they will enforce the ceasefire with fire. Those were the words of the Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi .
Of course, this is all catering to the frustrated political base of Benjamin Netanyahu … the right wing and especially those residing in northern Israel communities, some of whom are refusing to return there because they were promised that their return would only be secure when Israel is done dismantling Hezbollah. And the ceasefire came without achieving that.
For now, there is a lot of grandstanding and a lot of observers are worried about whether this tenuous ceasefire, which will be implemented over 60 days, can hold. Mediators have their work cut out for them and everybody else will be watching developments in the coming days.
Israeli military commander says ‘victory’ against Hezbollah a long way off
Israeli Brigadier General Yisrael Shomer has warned that Israel has not yet fended off the threat of Hezbollah and should be ready to “strike back anywhere” to stop it from regrouping. True “victory”, he said, is unlikely to come for decades.
“The test against Hezbollah will be in enforcement and preserving the achievements,” Shomer told the news outlet Israel Hayom. “We must ensure this [threat] doesn’t grow back in Lebanon, or in Gaza. And if it does, we must go in and strike, even if it means they will fire some rockets at us,” he said.
“A few days of battle are preferable to Hezbollah returning to what it was,” he added.
As we’ve been reporting, Israeli forces have repeatedly fired at what it claims are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon despite the continuing ceasefire, which both Israel and Hezbollah have accused each other of violating.
