The ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli army has claimed over 1,500 lives in nearly a year of cross-border violence, Lebanon reported on Thursday. The country’s disaster management unit stated that 1,540 people have been killed, with 60 deaths occurring in the past 24 hours alone, and 5,410 wounded.
The Israel-Lebanon border has witnessed almost daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7th. These hostilities have resulted in over 650 deaths in Lebanon and approximately 50 casualties, including soldiers and civilians, in Israel. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border due to the escalating violence.
Amidst these harrowing events, Israel has shown no signs of backing down. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz rejected ceasefire proposals put forward by the United States and France, calling for a 21-day pause in the hostilities. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t publicly responded to the proposals, he has instructed the Israeli army to continue its operations.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leader of one of the nationalist-religious factions within the Israeli government, has called for the complete destruction of Hezbollah, stating that only its surrender will enable the return of displaced civilians. “The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows he received and to reorganize for the continuation of the war after 21 days,” he said in a statement.
The far-right faction led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday, but members of the party have already voiced their opposition to the ceasefire proposals.
The past week has seen Israel unleashing the heaviest air strikes against Lebanon since the 2006 war, resulting in the deaths of over 600 people. The months-long escalation of cross-border fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement has brought the two nations perilously close to an all-out war.
Hezbollah has retaliated with hundreds of missiles launched at Israeli targets, including, for the first time, the economic hub of Tel Aviv. However, Israel’s aerial defense system has managed to limit the damage caused by these attacks.
The conflict has seen a dramatic escalation since mid-September. Two days of attacks involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, blamed on Israel, resulted in at least 39 deaths and thousands of injuries. In response, Hezbollah’s leader vowed retribution, launching a wave of rockets into northern Israel on September 20th. Since then, both sides have engaged in daily rocket fire, forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the north to seek refuge in air raid shelters and prompting tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee their homes in areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence. The United Nations estimates that over 90,000 Lebanese people have been displaced in recent days.
Israel’s airstrikes on Monday claimed the lives of over 560 Lebanese and injured almost 2,000, marking the deadliest attack since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Several Hezbollah leaders, including the commander of its most elite unit, were killed in these strikes, one of which occurred in Beirut.
As the situation remains volatile, the international community is urging a de-escalation of the conflict and the initiation of peace talks to prevent further bloodshed and suffering.
