Smoke billows over Khiam, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Oct. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces struck more than 12,500 Hezbollah terrorist sites in Lebanon during the nearly 14-month war that began when the Iranian proxy opened fire on the Jewish state a day after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of some 1,200 people.

The terrorist assets destroyed include 1,600 command and control centers and 1,000 weapons storage facilities.

The IDF also confirmed killing some 2,500 Hezbollah terrorists, although the military estimates the actual figure is closer to 3,500. According to a joint assessment by Israel’s Channel 12 and the Institute for National Security Studies, the fatalities include at least 11 brigade-level commanders, 37 battalion commanders and 46 company commanders.

The figure is more than 10 times the number of Hezbollah terrorists killed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between terrorists and noncombatants, reports 3,823 killed and 15,895 injured during the conflict.

Hezbollah’s chain of command was also devastated, as highlighted by the Sept. 27 targeted killing of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Other high-ranking officials killed include Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s successor; Radwan Force commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Wisam al-Tuwail; Ali Karaki, commander of the Southern Front; and Fuad Shukr, the terrorist group’s chief of staff.

Furthermore, some 80% of Hezbollah’s stockpile of 150,000 to 200,000 rockets and 70% of its drone arsenal were destroyed during the war.

Hezbollah launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel during the war.

Nearly 70,000 residents of northern Israel have been internally displaced due to the cross-border attacks from Lebanon. During “Operation Northern Arrows,” the Israeli military’s name for the northern war, 45 Israeli civilians and 79 IDF soldiers were killed, according to the most recent data from the Alma Research and Education Center, which monitors the northern fronts.

Israeli authorities estimate property damage to exceed $273 million, according to Reuters, while Channel 12 and INSS reported that according to World Bank estimates, Lebanon suffered $8.5 billion in damages and economic losses during the war—$3.4 billion in physical infrastructure damage and $5.1 billion economic losses.

An analysis of satellite data by The Washington Post in early November revealed that nearly a quarter of all buildings in 25 Lebanese towns and villages near the Israeli border were damaged or destroyed. At least 5,868 buildings were affected, with almost half located in the heavily impacted areas of Aita al-Shaab and Kafr Kila. Approximately 80% of the damage occurred after Oct. 2, 2024, coinciding with Israel’s ground offensive.