Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed 1,072 since March 2

ISTANBUL

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the death toll from ongoing Israeli strikes on the country has risen to 1,072, with 2,966 people wounded since March 2.

In its daily report, the ministry said 33 people were killed and 90 others wounded in the past 24 hours.

Earlier, the ministry said that at least 17 people were killed and 20 others injured Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling targeting residential buildings and areas across Lebanon.

An Israeli strike on the town of Bashamoun in the Aley district of Mount Lebanon killed two people and injured five others in a preliminary toll, the ministry said in a statement.

The NNA reported that Israeli warplanes destroyed a house in the town of Zefta in Nabatieh district, injuring two people, and carried out a series of strikes on the towns of Srifa, Haris, Rshaf, and Deir Antar in the Bint Jbeil district, as well as Touline in Marjayoun.

It added that Israeli forces entered the town of Halta in the Arqoub area after midnight, raided a house and opened fire on its residents, killing one person and injuring others, and abducted four individuals without disclosing their identities.

In the Tyre district, an airstrike on a house in the town of Selaa killed four people and injured four others, while three strikes on Tayr Debba killed two people and injured five.

One person was killed in the town of Shabriha after a vehicle was targeted, another in Mahruna following a motorcycle strike, and a third in an attack on the Burj al-Shamali–Tyre road.

In the Sidon district, a strike on a house in the Mieh Mieh Palestinian refugee camp killed two people and injured another, while another strike between Adloun and Abu al-Aswad killed two and injured two.

In Nabatieh, one person was killed and another injured in a strike on the town of Kfar Tebnit, while several others were injured in separate strikes on the towns of Jouaiya and Choukine, according to the report.

Areas in the Bekaa Valley, including Shmustar and the outskirts of Hermel, witnessed intensive Israeli aerial activity, while an Israeli strike destroyed the Dalafa Bridge over the Litani River, linking Hasbaya and the western Bekaa.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out after midnight between Hezbollah members and an Israeli force in the town of Qawzah in the Bint Jbeil district following an attempted incursion under artillery and tank fire that also targeted the town of Hanine.

Since late Monday, Israeli warplanes have carried out seven airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting areas including Burj al-Barajneh, Kafaat, Haret Hreik, Bir al-Abed, Jamous, and Hadath, Anadolu correspondent reported.

The strikes came after Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced the start of a wave of attacks targeting what he described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.

Earlier Monday, one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted an apartment in a residential building in Hazmieh, east of Beirut.

The escalation comes as part of a broader regional conflict, with ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran since Feb. 28 and Tehran’s response through missile and drone attacks toward Israel, as well as strikes targeting US interests in Arab countries.