Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, said its fighters reportedly killed over 70 Israeli officers since the beginning of the ground war in Lebanon.
In its operations room bulletin, Hezbollah claimed that aside from the 70 officers, some 600 other injured have resulted from the conflict. The group also said in their report that 28 Merkava tanks, four military bulldozers, an armored vehicle, and an Armored Personnel Carrier were destroyed.
Hezb Allah claimed that three Hermes 450 drones and one Hermes 900 drone had been destroyed. Significantly, the losses reported did not include any casualties or damage to Israeli forces from missile and drone attacks within Palestine.
Al Mayadeen quoted Hezbollah as underscoring that the “occupation forces” have utterly failed to fully control or occupy any of the villages along the front lines. A week earlier, the group had taken responsibility for killing approximately 55 Israeli soldiers while housing another 500, destroying 20 Merkava tanks and four bulldozers, and also bringing down two Hermes drones.
The same sources quote Israeli sources contradicting the 70 military fatalities claimed by Hezbollah, with Tel Aviv reports suggesting that close to 50 troops have so far been killed in the continuing fighting. Of those, about 20 soldiers are said to have been killed in Lebanon since the beginning of land incursions. At the same time, another 30 are reported to have been lost during the intensive Hezbollah missile attacks on northern Israel.
