Over 100 Killed, Hundreds Wounded in Israeli Strikes on Lebanon

At least 100 people, including children, women, and paramedics, have been killed, and more than 400 wounded, in Israeli attacks across Lebanon’s eastern and southern regions, according to a statement from the ministry.

It also reported that Israeli airstrikes hit multiple areas, including Tefahta, Kfar Hatta, Babliyeh, Kawthariyeh al-Sayyad, and al-Ghassaniyah. Two residential buildings in the towns of Babliyeh and Sarafand were also targeted. Hospitals in southern and eastern Lebanon have been instructed to halt non-essential surgeries to accommodate the influx of injured people due to the escalation in attacks.

The Israeli military confirmed that it struck around 300 targets in Lebanon today.

Lebanon’s Education Minister has announced the closure of schools for two days in regions affected by the strikes. Similarly, universities and educational institutions in parts of Beirut, its southern suburbs, and the Bekaa Valley will also be closed, as per the education minister's directive.

Telecom operator Ogero's head, Imad Kreidieh, revealed that Lebanon received over 80,000 calls suspected to be from Israel, urging people to evacuate. Kreidieh described the calls as “psychological warfare” aimed at spreading chaos. These calls were received by residents in southern Lebanon and in Beirut, including government officials. Despite the warnings, the Lebanese information minister confirmed that no government buildings had been evacuated, and operations continue as usual.

Lebanon’s prime minister has urged the United Nations, the Security Council, and countries with influence over Israel to intervene and stop the aggression.

Amid rising tensions, residents of Beirut are refusing to leave. Many have expressed defiance, stating that they are not afraid and are accustomed to the threats of war from Israel.

The regime has markedly intensified its attacks against the Arab country since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has responded with numerous strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories as a means of both retaliating against the regime and displaying support for the war-hit Gazans.

On Sunday, the group staged its farthest-reaching strikes against the territories since October, firing scores of rockets against the Ramat David Airbase, 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the city of Haifa, and the Rafael weapons manufacturing facility in the Zevulun area north of the city.

It described the strike against the facility as its “initial response” to the regime’s detonation of thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkie radios that killed at least 39 people and wounded 3,000 others across Lebanon over Tuesday and Wednesday.

Also on Sunday, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the movement was in a "new phase" in its battle against the regime.

"Threats will not stop us... We are ready to face all military possibilities,” he noted.

Qassem made the remarks while attending the funeral of Ibrahim Aqil, one of the group’s senior commanders.

Aqil was martyred alongside 37 others, including three children and seven women, during an Israeli attack on a residential building in a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Friday.