According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, over 560 people, including 50 children, have been killed in IDF strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Thousands have evacuated their homes following Israel's persistent warnings, given in an attempt to prevent civilian casualties as much as possible.
Two of the sources said that replacements had already been found for the Hezbollah terrorists killed in a Friday strike on Beirut.
At the same time, a fourth source - this one a Hezbollah official - told Reuters that the pager and radio explosions last week "put 1,500 fighters out of commission because of their injuries." Many of those were either blinded or had their hands blown off in the explosions.
A Friday report for the US Congress estimated that Hezbollah numbers 40,000 to 50,000 terrorists; Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed its numbers stand at 100,000 terrorists.
According to Reuters, Hezbollah has redeployed terrorists - some from Syria - to frontline areas in southern Lebanon, and has been bringing rockets into Lebanon at a "fast" pace in anticipation of an extended conflict.
Among Hezbollah's weapons arsenal are Iranian, Russian, and Chinese models. The sources did not provide details of the weapons or from where they were procured.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, told Reuters that although Hezbollah's operations were disrupted by the blasts last week, the terror organization's structure made it "extremely resilient," and the "most formidable enemy" Israel has ever faced.
He also noted that Hezbollah's tunnels in Lebanon, unlike Hamas' tunnels in Gaza, are dug deep into mountain rock, which makes them "far less accessible than in Gaza and even less easy to destroy." Krieg also said that Hezbollah's most powerful long-range ballistic missiles are stored below ground.
The US Congress report added that Hezbollah's arsenal contains around 150,000 rockets.
Hezbollah's continued rocket attacks are possible due to the fact that Hezbollah's chain of command has continued functioning throughout, a senior security official told Reuters. Its fixed-line telephone network has also continued functioning, the three sources said.
If Hezbollah's chain of command does break, its frontline fighters are trained to operate in small, independent groups, a senior source said. These groups are capable of fighting Israeli forces for extended periods of time.
In addition, many of the terror group's members were carrying older models of pagers that were unaffected by the blasts.
Boaz Shapira a researcher at the Israeli think tank "Alma," noted that Israel has not yet targeted key strategic sites, such as drone sites or long-range missiles. He told Reuters, "I don't think we are anywhere near finishing this."
The IDF and Hezbollah's media office did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the information. Israel National News - Arutz Sheva