At least 640 people have been killed in Lebanon since the country was drawn into the war between Israel and Iran, the health ministry said. It is unclear how many of them are civilians, but the figure includes more than 80 children, the newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour reported when the death toll was significantly lower.
On Wednesday evening, Israel carried out new attacks on the al-Dahiya area, the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah has traditionally had strongholds. The attacks are, according to the Israeli military, "large-scale".
"The military is acting decisively against the Hezbollah terrorist organization following their conscious decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime," the military wrote on Telegram.
100 rockets against Israel
The attack they are referring to is Hezbollah's most extensive attack on Israel since the war between Israel and Iran began. According to Israeli media, the Shiite militia fired around 100 rockets from Lebanon at Israel early Wednesday evening.
The attacks triggered airstrikes in several cities around the coast and in northern Israel, but after just over an hour, residents in northern Israel were reportedly given the go-ahead to leave their shelters. According to the Times of Israel, two people suffered minor injuries.
The newspaper also reports that Israeli authorities see the attack as coordinated with Iran - which simultaneously fired at least two ballistic missiles at Israel.
Wednesday's late-night attacks follow a series of attacks across Lebanon throughout the day. More than 250 people were killed in the morning alone, according to Lebanon's health ministry. At least eight people died in an attack on southern Lebanon in the early evening.
EU aid worth 100 million
Lebanon was drawn into the war two days after the US and Israel first attacked Iran, when the Shiite militia Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran. Since then, more than 800,000 people - more than a tenth of Lebanon’s population - have been forced to flee, according to authorities.
L'Orient-Le Jour writes that France flew in 60 tons of emergency aid to Beirut on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X that the EU delivered 40 tons of emergency aid on Tuesday and that humanitarian aid worth just over one billion kronor is on the way.
In the United States, President Donald Trump told reporters that he “loves Lebanon and its people” and that “the United States is working very hard to knock out Hezbollah.”
Corrected: In a previous version, there was an incorrect statement about how much emergency aid von der Leyen says the EU has delivered. The correct figure is 40 tons.
