In routine times, Hezbollah is careful to publicly announce its operatives who have been eliminated. The organization even takes pride in them—publishing their photos, names, and roles is an integral part of the culture of “martyrdom” and death and of the ideological narrative the organization cultivates among its supporters. During wartime, a different pattern can be identified compared to the ceasefire period, a pattern that was also evident during the previous war — particularly at the stage when the IDF shifted from defensive operations to a broad offensive campaign (September 2024)—Hezbollah has avoided the organized and systematic publication of many of its operatives who were eliminated. Despite this, research on social media reveals photos and posts about Hezbollah operatives eliminated during the fighting, from various ranks and different units within the organization. This avoidance of official publication is not accidental. It is a systematic and psychological strategy intended to obscure the true scale of the organization’s losses and to incorporate its fallen operatives into the overall count of fatalities in Lebanon. This creates a public narrative in which no distinction is made between civilians and Hezbollah operatives. IDF operations are directed against Hezbollah and its military infrastructure, not against the civilian population in Lebanon. Accordingly, the IDF works to evacuate civilians from areas where fighting is taking place, and in some cases even provides advance warnings prior to strikes, in order to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible. The attached image presents only a small portion of dozens of Hezbollah operatives eliminated in the recent days of fighting, as identified through open-source information on social media.
