The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the Israeli occupation raids on Lebanon on Wednesday alone reached 72 killed, including women and children, and more than 392 wounded.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese government’s emergency plan coordinator, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, announced that the number of people killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since October 8 , 2023, has reached 1,247 and the number of wounded has reached 5,278, most of whom are civilians, including children and women.
Yassin pointed out that the number of displaced people who have sought refuge in shelters has so far reached 52,900 people, distributed across 360 centers, most of which are educational institutions and official schools. He explained that these displaced people represent about 30 percent of the total number of residents who were displaced from their areas due to Israeli bombing and massacres .
He added: “We estimate the number of displaced people from Lebanese regions, especially from the south and the Bekaa, at more than 150,000 people, who were forced to leave their lands and towns due to the deteriorating security situation.”
The Israeli occupation’s raids continue on several Lebanese cities and towns, especially in the south. Since Monday morning, the Israeli occupation has launched an attack that is “the most violent, extensive and intensive” on Lebanon since the July 2006 war.
Rami Khouri, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, said “the stakes are very high” for the region amid Israel’s attack on Lebanon, which is the latest escalation of tensions that have existed for decades.
“This tension has been going on for 30, 40, 50 years because the root cause of it has never been resolved – the conflict between Palestine and Israel,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.
“This moment is the most dangerous one that I’ve experienced in my 50 years of covering the area as a journalist and analyst. That’s because of the chances of other big powers getting involved,” Khouri said.
