The Israeli Army spokesperson, Effie Defrin, stated on Friday that 70 members of the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which Israel has announced will continue. «Since Hezbollah decided to join the campaign and attack Israel, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) have attacked over 500 targets in Lebanon, eliminated more than 70 Hezbollah terrorists, and carried out 26 waves of attacks,» he said during a video conference. The spokesperson made these statements after a meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who assured that he ordered «the waves of attacks in Lebanon to continue». Defrin accused Hezbollah and the Iranian regime of being «one and the same» and added that the Lebanese government «must get rid of Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guard soldiers operating from its territory». «Otherwise, we will pursue and attack them,» he added. The intense Israeli aerial offensive against Lebanon began after Hezbollah launched an attack on Israel at the beginning of the week, in support of Iran and in retaliation for the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, which revived an unfinished war despite the ceasefire in November 2024, as Israel continued to carry out almost daily attacks on southern Lebanon and has increased its troops there. According to Lebanese emergency services, there are at least 123 dead and 683 injured in Lebanon, in addition to tens of thousands of displaced people.
