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Speaking today at the Washington Institute, Ltn. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, former chief of staff to the IDF, said the reason Israeli casualties have been so low is people follow the instructions of their Home Security office for staying in doors or in bomb shelters, and that the 700 rockets Hezbollah has launched into Israel are not very accurate. He also said that the current operation is not only about militarily degrading Hezbollah's capabilities, but showing the high cost that will be paid for harboring Hezbollah and Hezbollah's provocations.At least 54 civilians and a Hezbollah militant were killed when Israel Air Force aircraft bombed targets in Lebanon on Wednesday, witnesses said. Thus the death toll in Israel's military operation in Lebanon has risen to over 300.
At least 12 people, including several children, were killed and 30 wounded in the strike that destroyed several houses in the southern village of Srifa, residents said.
They said more people were feared buried under the rubble of about 10 houses flattened by the strike on the village.
At least 34 other civilians were killed Wednesday in air strikes on other parts of south and east Lebanon, security sources said. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed in the strikes.
Most of the fatalities are civilians killed in IAF bombardments, in Balbek and the southern Lebanon town of Nabatiya.
The IDF said that in Wednesday's raids dozens of targets across Lebanon were attacked, including a launcher of a long-distance Zilzal missile, as well as Hezbollah-linked financial establishments in Beirut and Nabatiya.
Navy gunships also shelled the Christian Beirut suburb of Asharfiya, which is not held to be a Hezbollah stronghold. The shelling destroyed two trucks carrying construction drills that were probably mistaken for rocket launchers.