Death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon nears 2,000

Lebanon’s Health Minister, Firas Alabiad, has confirmed that the death toll from Israeli assaults on Lebanon since October 8, 2023, has reached 1,974.

Among the dead are 127 children and 261 women, with another 9,384 people wounded during the ongoing conflict, which has seen a significant escalation over the past month.

Speaking at a press conference in Beirut on October 3, 2024, Alabiad also disclosed that 102 medical personnel, including paramedics, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

The minister strongly condemned these attacks on healthcare workers, calling them a violation of international law and labeling them "war crimes."

He said that international regulations are clear in protecting healthcare workers and civilians in conflict zones.

"Who gave Israel the right to be both judge and executioner?" he asked.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon began to intensify in early October 2023 in parallel to Tel Aviv's brutal onslaught on beseiged Gaza.

While Israel claims it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and military infrastructure, many civilians have been caught in the crossfire.

WHO said Thursday that at least 28 on-duty medics were killed in the last 24 hours in Lebanon following Israeli airstrikes and a ground incursion.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reports that more than 1,100 of the nearly 2,000 deaths occurred within the last month, underscoring the increased severity of the attacks.

The situation on the ground has deteriorated as Israel has launched extensive airstrikes across Lebanon, including in densely populated areas of Beirut and the south.

On Thursday, Israeli forces reportedly used bunker buster bombs in an airstrike on a neighborhood in southern Beirut. The bombs, designed to penetrate deep underground targets, hit civilian areas, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.

Regional tensions have increased as a result of Israel's military statements that it had killed Nasrallah in an air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, in a move that could destabilise Lebanon as a whole.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared five days of public mourning for Hassan Nasrallah on September 28th.

The Lebanese government and several international human rights organisations have condemned the use of such munitions in civilian settings.

One of the most alarming consequences of the ongoing conflict has been the destruction of Lebanon's healthcare infrastructure.

Alabiad revealed that dozens of medical facilities have been either damaged or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

This destruction has severely hampered the ability of medical teams to treat the thousands of injured civilians, including many women and children.

In the past 24 hours alone, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 28 medics were killed in Lebanon during Israeli invasion.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that many health workers have either fled or are unable to report to work due to the relentless bombardment of key areas.

This has created a critical gap in medical services, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The intensifying violence in Lebanon has drawn widespread concern from the international community.

Several countries and global institutions have warned that the Israeli attacks in Lebanon risk escalating into a wider regional conflict, particularly as Tel Aviv's violence on Gaza continue to worsen.

Since October 2023, the Israeli military has been engaged in a brutal invasion of the Gaza Strip, where nearly 41,800 people, most of them women and children, have been killed.

Diplomatic efforts to curb the violence have so far yielded limited results, with Israel continuing its airstrikes and ground operations in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Despite calls for restraint from global powers, the Israeli government claims that its invading raids are aimed at neutralising Hezbollah's military capabilities.

Despite suffering significant losses, including the deaths of several senior leaders, Hezbollah has vowed to continue its fight against Israeli forces.

The group, which enjoys considerable support in parts of Lebanon, has retaliated against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, and its fighters remain entrenched in various strongholds across the country.

The Israeli military has confirmed the deaths of several soldiers since launching a ground invasion in Lebanon earlier this week..

Meanwhile, regional experts are closely watching to see if the conflict will spread to other parts of the Middle East, with potential consequences for the entire region.