Israel. Defense Minister: We have eliminated half of Hezbollah's command

Israeli Defense Minister Joaw Galant announced on Wednesday after visiting the Northern Command of the Israel Defense Forces (Cahal) that half of Hezbollah's leaders in southern Lebanon had been eliminated, the Times of Israel reported.

“The remaining half went into hiding, leaving southern Lebanon to Cahal's operations,” the minister added.

He also explained that the main goal of Israeli operations in the north, near the border with Lebanon, is to enable several dozen thousand inhabitants of this region to return home. Nearly 80 thousand people were evacuated from the north of the country for fear of Hezbollah rocket attacks.

– We are considering a number of alternative solutions to this problem, and the coming time will be decisive in this matter – Galant said.

Just before the defense minister's speech, Cahal announced that he was conducting an “offensive operation” in southern Lebanon, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

“Military planes and artillery of the Israeli army hit about 40 terrorist targets,” including weapons depots, warehouses and other infrastructure facilities, says a statement from the armed forces.

As Reuters comments, Wednesday's action by Israeli forces is another stage in the escalation of tensions on the border with Lebanon, where exchanges of fire have intensified in recent days.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah said it had launched drones on the Israeli city of Acre. Reuters commented that since the beginning of the current conflict, the Iran-financed organization has not reached so far into the Jewish state.

This was in retaliation for the death of a member of the group Hussein Azkul, responsible for the Hezbollah air force, who was killed on Tuesday morning in an Israeli drone attack.

The drones launched by Hezbollah were destroyed by Israeli forces.