By Said Amori
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Saturday acknowledged that 38 of its soldiers were injured in the last 24 hours across southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.
This update comes as the military faces accusations of concealing the actual scale of its losses during a genocidal campaign against Gaza, which has escalated alongside rising assaults in the West Bank and recently extended to various areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut.
According to the latest data published on the military's official website, the number of injured soldiers since Oct. 7, 2023 – the date marking the start of the genocide in Gaza – has reached 4,567, with 38 injuries reported in the past 24 hours.
The data did not provide detailed figures for injuries among soldiers on each front.
Among the injured, 695 soldiers are reported to be in “serious” condition, while 1,147 are classified as “moderate,” and the remaining cases are considered “mild,” it said.
Despite reports of two soldiers killed and 24 injured, including two critically, following drone attacks from Iraq in northern Israel on Friday, the military's official website has not updated the total number of soldier fatalities, which remains at 726.
Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,180 people and injuring over 3,318 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Hezbollah has confirmed in multiple statements over recent hours and days that it has successfully repelled attempts by Israeli forces to penetrate Lebanese territory, resulting in a significant number of casualties among Israeli troops.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,800 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.
Due to Israeli attacks, at least 2,036 people have since been killed, over 9,500 injured, and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio