A second source, in Israeli military intelligence, said those fleeing were even in the middle ranks of the group. “Some of the medium level echelons are even leaving Lebanon, into Syria and Iraq, trying to evacuate their families as well,” the source added.
He said it appeared Hezbollah was finding it “very difficult to conduct the same resistance” that was predicted.
While 24 Israeli soldiers and reservists have died since the ground operations began, the casualties are much lower than hundreds that were expected, he said. However, with the backing of Iran, he did not rule out the possibility of Hezbollah regrouping.
As the US now pushes the two sides for a ceasefire amid mass displacement and civilian casualties in Lebanon, the ISW said Hezbollah was “falsely presenting Israeli ground operations as a failure in order to degrade Israeli will and underscore Hezbollah’s own resilience in the face of massive Hezbollah losses since mid-September… and are using propaganda images to misrepresent military successes”.
Over 63,000 Israelis have been displaced from Israel’s north since Hezbollah began almost daily barrages of drones, rockets and missiles on Oct 8, in allegiance with Hamas in Gaza.
Subsequently, tens of thousands more were displaced in southern Lebanon, with more like 1.4 million Lebanese people now displaced as the conflict spreads across the country.