Hezbollah announced overnight that 13 more of its members had been killed, raising the total death toll from the walkie-talkie explosions and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes in southern Lebanon to 20.
Since October, Hezbollah has reported the deaths of 473 members during the ongoing conflict with Israel.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, 20 people died yesterday following the explosion of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah across the country.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah identified 12 members who were killed by Israeli strikes or by pager explosions used by the group. In total, Hezbollah has acknowledged the deaths of 32 members over the past two days.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate after attributing the recent pager explosions, which resulted in at least eight fatalities and injured 2,750 people, to Israeli actions. The explosions primarily affected Hezbollah fighters and included injuries to Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the detonations—used for communication by Hezbollah—as an act of “Israeli aggression.” Hezbollah declared that Israel would face “its fair punishment” for these attacks.
The Israeli military, which has been engaged in ongoing cross-border conflict with Hezbollah since the outbreak of the Gaza war last October, refrained from commenting on the explosions.
However, an Israeli military spokesman confirmed that Major General Herzi Halevi met with senior officers to evaluate the situation, emphasizing the need for continued vigilance.
Hezbollah described the incident as the “biggest security breach” it has faced in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. The explosions occurred in southern Lebanon, particularly in areas known as Hezbollah strongholds.
