Wave of funerals in Lebanon reveals the heavy extent of Hezbollah's losses
[49530] Wave of funerals in Lebanon reveals the heavy extent of Hezbollah's losses
Reports of mass funerals for Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon since the ceasefire indicate that the organization has paid a heavy price, while attempting to blur the true extent of its losses.
Wave of funerals in Lebanon reveals the heavy extent of Hezbollah's losses
In recent weeks, since the ceasefire went into effect, documentation from across Lebanon of mass funerals for Hezbollah operatives held in many locations simultaneously has been increasing. According to Alma - Israel's Research and Education Center for the Northern Border, these events provide a "significant indication of the extent of the losses the organization suffered during the current fighting" according to Alma's announcement.
In an additional report, Hadashot 360 notes that the increase in the number of ceremonies reflects the organization's difficulties in hiding the reality on the ground. According to Hadashot 360, "Hezbollah tends not to publish full official information about its losses, which makes it difficult to estimate the number of dead."
According to the Alma center, Hezbollah's strategy includes an attempt to "blur the number of dead among its military operatives" by embedding them into the total count of civilian casualties in Lebanon. The organization, which is identified with the Axis of Resistance and operates from within a dense civilian environment, seeks in this way to present a distorted picture of the fighting as if most of the casualties are innocent civilians.
However, the Alma center emphasizes that the data on the ground indicates that "most of the dead are Hezbollah operatives," as a result of targeted IDF strikes. Israeli sources analyze the events as evidence that the damage to the organization's infrastructure was deeper and more significant than the organization is willing to admit publicly.