Lebanon: Hezbollah death toll exceeds 2006 war
The number of Hezbollah and affiliated combatants killed in Lebanon since October 8th, 2023, has exceeded the death toll of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, according to analysts on April 5th. An April 8th Israeli airstrike has also purportedly killed a Hezbollah field commander in the southern village of al-Sultaniyah.
The death toll cites 279 Hezbollah-aligned fighters killed by Israel since the outbreak of hostilities, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The Iran-backed Lebanese militia opened hostilities with Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) along the Lebanon-Israel border in solidarity with Gaza’s Hamas militia, who have been in open conflict with Israeli forces since October 7th, 2023.
READ: Lebanon: Israeli warplanes strike 10 Hezbollah targets
On October 7th, Hamas operatives attacked southern Israel, killing over 1,000 people, according to official Israeli figures. The attack triggered a brutal and indiscriminate Israeli siege and invasion of the Palestinian enclave, which has killed over 33,000 people to date, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry’s estimates.
Along the Lebanon-Israel border, the fighting has mostly remained confined to a 7km corridor on both sides, with the exceptions of Israeli air attacks in eastern Lebanon and the capital, Beirut.
Senior researcher at Information International, Mohammad Chamseddine, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Hezbollah death toll is divided as follows: 260 Hezbollah fighters, 14 from Amal Movement, three from al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, a Syrian Social Nationalist Party member, and a Lebanese Army soldier.
Estimates count 250 Hezbollah members to have been killed in 2006’s July War, as-well-as approximately 1,200 civilians.
Chamseddine stressed that although the death toll has surpassed that of the 2006 war, which lasted only 33 days, the ongoing conflict has lasted six months which contributes to the higher figure.
In addition to the 279 fighters, the current conflict in Lebanon has claimed the lives of 66 Lebanese non-combatants, including 23 women, 8 children, 3 journalists, and 18 paramedics according to Information international figures.
READ: Lebanon PM promises compensation for Israel strikes
In the early hours of April 8th, Israeli military and Lebanese security officials claim an Israeli airstrike killed an Field Commander Ali Ahmed Hassin of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit and two others in al-Sultaniyah, further adding to the tally, according to Reuters.
Asharq Al-Awsat / Reuters
