Hezbollah Deaths in South Lebanon Exceed 2006 War's Toll

Students supporting Hezbollah at the Lebanese University carry pictures of members killed in the battle against Israel. (AP)
Students supporting Hezbollah at the Lebanese University carry pictures of members killed in the battle against Israel. (AP)
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Hezbollah Deaths in South Lebanon Exceed 2006 War's Toll

Students supporting Hezbollah at the Lebanese University carry pictures of members killed in the battle against Israel. (AP)
Students supporting Hezbollah at the Lebanese University carry pictures of members killed in the battle against Israel. (AP)

The number of Hezbollah fighters who died in the ongoing war in South Lebanon exceeded the figures announced in the July 2006 war, despite the significant difference between the natures of the two battles.

Hezbollah described the recent confrontation as a “support front” for the Gaza Strip, while in 2006, it was an “open war” that extended to all Lebanese territories.

Hezbollah has been waging a battle against the Israeli army since Oct. 8. The operations remained confined to a geographical framework not exceeding seven kilometers on both sides of the border, with some exceptions, as Israel has launched targeted attacks on vehicles and buildings in the Bekaa (eastern Lebanon), the Chouf Coast, and the southern suburb of Beirut.

The party said that 279 fighters have died in southern and eastern Lebanon as a result of Israeli strikes and direct and indirect attacks.

Mohammad Shamseddine, senior researcher at Information International, told Asharq Al-Awsat that those are divided as follows: 260 fighters mourned by Hezbollah, 14 fighters by the Amal Movement, three fighters by Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya and one by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, in addition to a Lebanese Army soldier.

The death toll announced since Oct. 8 exceeded the announced figures for the fighters who died in the July 2006 war.

According to estimates, the number of Hezbollah members killed in the July War is approximately 250, compared to around 1,200 civilians.

Shamseddine confirmed that the current number exceeds the deaths announced in the July War. At the same time, he stressed the need to take into account that the 2006 war “lasted 33 days,” while this battle has been ongoing for about 6 months, which definitely contributes to raising the death toll.

In addition to 279 fighters, other Palestinian militants died in the battle, who were mourned by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, in addition to 66 Lebanese civilians, including 23 women, 15 men, 8 children, 3 journalists and 18 paramedics, according to figures released by Information International.

 



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”