Death toll from Israeli strikes in Lebanon mounts to 558

ANKARA

The death toll from Israel’s ongoing airstrikes in Lebanon has surged to 558 people, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Tuesday.

The victims included 50 children and 95 women while at least 1,835 people were injured, he added at a press conference in Beirut.

"The majority of the victims in the Israeli attacks since Monday morning are defenseless civilians in their homes. This refutes the enemy's allegations of targeting fighters," the minister stressed.

The Israeli attacks have forced thousands of Lebanese to flee their homes in southern Lebanon towards the capital Beirut and northern areas, according to an Anadolu reporter.

The Israeli army claimed that it had hit over 1,100 Hezbollah targets in the last 24 hours in southern and eastern Lebanon, using more than 1,400 different munitions in some 650 sorties of its fighter jets.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.