Lebanon health minister says 4,047 killed in Hezbollah-Israel fighting

Lebanon Health Minister Firass Abiad says the Lebanese death toll in more than a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has reached 4,047, most of them since September.

The figure does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The IDF estimates that some 3,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups have also been reported killed in Lebanon.

“Until now… we have recorded 4,047 dead and 16,638 wounded,” Abiad tells reporters a week after a ceasefire took effect. Most of the deaths occurred after September 15, he says, adding that “we believe the real number may be higher” due to unrecorded deaths.

Starting October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the Iran-backed group saying it was doing so to support Palestinians in Gaza amid the war there. Hezbollah then expanded its attacks to also target cities in central and northern Israel with rockets.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern Israel near the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group. In September, Israel expanded its operations in Lebanon with the aim of enabling northern residents to return to their homes. a ceasefire went into effect last week and has broadly held.

Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 45 civilians. In addition, 76 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes, attacks on Israel, and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon.