Nearly 780,000 displaced in Lebanon as Israeli strikes intensify
2 min read
Nearly 780,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Israeli attacks intensified, the country’s Ministry of Social Affairs said.
According to the ministry, around 120,000 displaced people are currently sheltering in government-run facilities across the country.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) evacuated its personnel from the border town of Alma Ash Shaab on Tuesday.
The largely Christian town, located along the frontier with Israel, had remained populated as residents refused to leave despite repeated evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military.
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, further widening Israeli attacks in the capital beyond the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs where heavy strikes continued.
Footage showed extensive damage to two floors of the apartment block in the Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood, and smoke rising from the building.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and no immediate reports of casualties.
It would mark the second Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut in four days.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a hotel in the seafront Raouche neighbourhood.
The Israeli military alleged that the strike targeted five senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force.
Lebanese authorities say nearly 570 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Hezbollah opened fire on March 2 to avenge the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Israel kept up heavy strikes on the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, overnight.
The Israeli military has ordered residents of Dahiyeh to leave, along with residents of a swathe of southern Lebanon and parts of the east.
Seven killed in south Lebanon
In a separate development, Lebanon’s Health Ministry Emergency Operations Centre said seven people were killed and 11 others injured in Israeli attacks on the town of Al Shahabiya in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon.
The casualties were confirmed in a statement cited by Lebanon’s National News Agency, as hostilities along the border continue to intensify.
