Israel claims to have hit over 3,000 Hezbollah targets
Israel made unsubstantiated claims on February 3rd to have hit more than 3,400 Hezbollah targets Lebanon and over 50 in Syria since mid-October, according to AP.
Neither the IDF could offer any proof of the claims and Hezbollah has not responded to them.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, alleged that 200 “terrorists and commanders” were killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, however, according to an AFP tally, Israel’s 218 victims include at least 26 civilians.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shia militant group, based in Lebanon and Syria. They have supported Syria’s al-Assad regime throughout the country’s civil war, and Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza, the Israel-Lebanon border has witnessed regular exchanges of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah. Official Israeli figures count nine of their soldiers and six civilians to have been killed in such exchanges.
READ: Would Israel really trade Shebaa Farms for border deal?
The ongoing Israeli air, land, and sea offensive on Gaza followed Hamas’ October 7th attack on southern Israel, which resulted in 1,160 mostly civilian deaths according to Tel Aviv.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said at least 27, 238 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, since October 7th.
On February 2nd, the US too began airstrikes against Iran-aligned targets in Syria and Iraq, in retaliation for the deaths of three US servicemen by drone attack in Jordan.
READ: 39 dead in US strikes on Iraq and Syria
Iran-backed armed groups have carried out 165 attacks on US and allied bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan since the mid-October, in solidarity with Hamas.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed at least 29 Iran-backed militia fighters were killed in the February 2nd strikes, while Baghdad’s administration said 16 people, including civilians, were killed in Iraq.
AP
