Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed Tuesday that Hezbollah had been “battered and broken” by the ongoing bombings and the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
During a briefing with the military’s northern command, Gallant stated that Hezbollah is “a battered and broken organization, lacking significant command and fire capabilities, with a disintegrated leadership following Hassan Nasrallah’s elimination.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the military reported Lebanon launched approximately 85 rockets at northern Israel, including the large port city of Haifa.
“Hezbollah is an organisation without a head, Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated and all the top command is gone,” Gallant said in a statement issued by his office, appearing to refer to top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine who was widely expected to succeed Nasrallah.
“There is no one to make decisions, no one to act and the firepower that Hezbollah built over the years, with a huge Iranian investment, has reached the level that is similar to what Hamas started with and maybe below that,” said Gallant.
He explained that once the “smoke clears… Iran will realise that they have lost their most valuable asset — Hezbollah” .
October 8 marks the first anniversary of Hezbollah’s cross-border confrontations with Israel in support of its Palestinian affiliate Hamas, who attacked Israel the day before, sparking a war in Gaza.
According to AFP and Israeli official data, the Hamas attack killed 1,206 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians.
Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza has killed at least 41,965 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to verified estimates from the health ministry.
According to Israeli officials, Hezbollah has shot approximately 10,000 rockets into Israel in the last year, with some reaching as far as Tel Aviv, the country’s main commercial hub.
Approximately 60,000 inhabitants of Israeli settlements near the Lebanon border have fled their homes.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the return of northern citizens to their homes a military goal.
Following that pronouncement, the Israeli military conducted a series of strikes against Hezbollah on September 17, damaging the group’s command centers and weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon as well as in Beirut.
According to Lebanese officials, the strikes killed approximately 1,110 people and drove more than a million to evacuate their homes.