In a video message on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Force (IDF) had taken out nearly 10,000 Hezbollah militants as the military continued attacks on southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military has been "systematically clearing out" Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, the prime minister said in the video.
In a separate statement, the IDF said Wednesday that it had struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites and killed Hezbollah militants in Tyre and other areas in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
One airstrike hit a Hezbollah weapons cache in Tyre, triggering secondary explosions, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah has not yet responded to the IDF claims.
The developments came as Israel and Lebanon are engaged in direct, U.S.-mediated talks on border security and other pressing issues, although the two sides remain sharply divided over the status of Hezbollah's armed presence in Lebanon and the terms of a ceasefire arrangement.
Despite a ceasefire reached by Israel and Lebanon in mid-April, Israel has continued near-daily strikes in Lebanon claiming targeting Hezbollah positions and weapons, while Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israeli military positions.
Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said Wednesday that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed 3,696 people in Lebanon and injured 11,413 others.
IDF takes out nearly 10,000 Hezbollah militants: Israeli PM
China has continued to strengthen its capacity to ensure energy and resource security, according to the Global Mining Development Report 2026 released by the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources on Friday.
The report indicates that since China launched a new round of strategic actions for mineral exploration in 2021, the exploration of strategic emerging minerals has achieved leapfrog development, and the country's capacity for independent resource supply has been significantly enhanced.
According to the report, China's new round of strategic actions for mineral exploration has produced remarkable results, with mineral resource reserves growing substantially. China currently ranks the first in the world in reserves of 14 minerals and has achieved three-dimensional expansion in oil and gas exploration, with deep-layer and deep-sea areas becoming new growth points.
Meanwhile, China's scale of mineral product production and smelting and processing remains the world's largest, and its leading position in the industrial chain has been continuously consolidated. In the smelting and processing sector in particular, the output of more than 30 metallurgical products ranks the first in the world, and the output of 17 mineral products accounts for about 50 percent of global mineral product output. This signifies that China is not only a major mineral resource producer, but also a supply leader and important driver in the global smelting and processing industry.
In addition, the scale of China's mining economy and its role in driving employment have continued to strengthen, providing strong support for socioeconomic development. As of April 2026, China had boasted 12,600 exploration rights and 30,400 mining rights, along with 55,000 mining enterprises and 834,000 smelting and processing enterprises. The mining industry and its related sectors have become an important pillar of regional economic development and people's livelihoods and employment.
"China has actively contributed its strength to global mining transformation. China has signed memorandums of understanding on geological and mining cooperation with more than 70 other countries, and technologies and equipment such as autonomous mining trucks, mining large models, and tailings resource recovery have been deployed globally," said Zou Xiehua, chief drafter of the Global Mining Development Report 2026.
China continues to strengthen energy, resource security capacity: global mining report
