At least 394 people have been killed and 1,130 injured in ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday, according to the country’s health minister.
Rakan Nassereddine said in a Sunday press conference that the casualties included 42 women and 83 children, while among the injured were 274 women and 254 children.
The latest military escalation follows limited rocket fire from Hezbollah, drawing Israel into a broader campaign amid ongoing regional tensions linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran. Despite a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in November 2024, Israel has carried out near-daily operations, leaving hundreds dead and wounded.
Since October 2023, Israel’s offensive in Lebanon has killed more than 4,000 people and injured roughly 17,000. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024, and Lebanon was drawn further in on Monday when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, prompting a new wave of Israeli attacks that have killed nearly 300 and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, buildings were reduced to smoking rubble, while in the town of Nabi Chit, an Israeli airborne raid left craters in the ground, buried cars in debris, and even launched one vehicle onto the roof of a two-story building. Across Israel, air raid sirens forced residents to flee to shelters as rockets and drones were reported incoming.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that the Lebanese government bears responsibility to enforce the 2024 agreement to disarm Hezbollah. “Your responsibility is to disarm Hezbollah. If you do not, Hezbollah’s aggression will have disastrous repercussions for Lebanon,” he warned.
Defence Minister Israel Katz added that Lebanon would “pay a heavy price” if Hezbollah is not disarmed, stressing that Israel holds no territorial claims but will not tolerate cross-border attacks.
Last year, the Lebanese government instructed its army to establish a state monopoly on arms. While troops have confiscated Hezbollah weapons in parts of southern Lebanon, senior officials noted that fully enforcing the plan could trigger internal tensions, as Hezbollah has refused to surrender its arsenals.
Israeli officials described the latest operations as aimed at “removing the threat from Lebanon.” Overnight, Israeli helicopters deployed troops near Nabi Chit in the Bekaa Valley in a mission to recover the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator missing since 1986, though no remains were found.
The conflict continues to worsen, leaving civilians in Lebanon facing growing destruction and insecurity as the war shows no signs of abating.
