Increasingly heavy fighting in the southwest and a growing number of Israeli airstrikes nationwide have caused the death toll in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon to surge, rising to at least 50 killed in the last 24 hours.
Heavy fighting was reported in several areas along the southwest of the country, with the heaviest fighting reportedly along the coastal highway. Advancing Israeli troops have reportedly exchanged heavy fire with Hezbollah forces in the area.
Israeli airstrikes against the capital city of Beirut and surrounding towns killed at least seven, including reportedly a top Hezbollah commander. A drone strike in Mansour killed two and another airstrike against a home in Houmine el-Tahta killed a family of four.
An Israeli airstrike killed a family of four in Houmine el-Tahta | image from X
The Health Ministry put the overall death toll so far from the war at 1,318, which is 50 higher than their number the day prior. They also added 185 to the wounded number, bringing that total to 3,935 since the war began on March 2.
The bulk of Israeli strikes have targeted southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the east, along with persistent strikes against the Shi’ite suburbs of the capital city of Beirut. Today’s toll points to a similar concentration of the strikes, which have displaced an estimated 1.1 million civilians.
Israel’s invasion of Lebanon was launched in the wake of the joint US-Israel attack on Iran, with Hezbollah having fired some rockets at Israel “in solidarity” with the Iranians. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets at northern Israel throughout the war, and has engaged advancing IDF troops on the ground.
