More than half a million people in Lebanon have been displaced as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated in the south and north, fuelled by the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed announced during a media briefing on Sunday that 517,000 people have been displaced since the renewed escalations began.
The figure was released hours after Israeli jets carried out massive strikes deep into the heart of Beirut for the first time, raising fears of a full-scale regional war.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that more than 394 people have been killed in under a week of renewed hostilities, including 83 children, 42 women, and nine rescue workers.
Meanwhile, independent sources indicate the death toll in Israel has surged into the hundreds since the war with Iran began, though the Israeli authorities have officially confirmed only 13 deaths and more than 1,800 injuries.
Hezbollah has continued targeting northern Israel with rockets, adding to the casualty figures. On Saturday, the group foiled an Israeli military operation, killing two IDF soldiers and injuring more than 26 others.
The second soldier was later identified as Master Sergeant Maher Khatar, aged 38, from the Majdal Shams area.
On Monday, Israel pressed ahead with its air offensive against Lebanon, with the IDF stating it had targeted senior commanders of Iran’s elite Quds Force—the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel,” the Israeli military said.
Also read: Lebanon toll reaches 41 from Israeli raid; soldier missing
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