BEIRUT — Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced on Wednesday that 4,047 people have been killed and 16,593 others injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October of last year.
At a press conference in Beirut, Abiad said that 316 children were killed and 1,456 others injured, while 790 women were killed and 3,357 others injured in Israeli strikes across Lebanon.
Abiad also revealed that 67 hospitals were targeted by Israeli strikes, 40 of which were directly hit and seven others forcibly closed.
A ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Nov. 27, following a deadly conflict between the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel that began on Oct. 8, 2023. The confrontation has been regarded as the bloodiest since the last war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006.
Under the agreement, both sides agreed to a 60-day cessation of hostilities, with Israel gradually withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah retreating north of the Litani River.
Despite the truce, tensions remain high as both sides exchange accusations of ceasefire violations, raising concerns about the agreement’s durability.
A source from Lebanese military intelligence, who required anonymity, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the Lebanese army had redeployed to four military sites west of the southern border town of Shebaa, which it abandoned about three months ago.
The source added that with this redeployment, the Lebanese army is now positioned approximately 700 meters from the Israeli sites in the occupied Shebaa Farms.
XINHUA