Death toll from Monday's Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon surges to 356

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from Monday’s Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon has surged to 356, including women and children, said new official figures.

Among those killed are 42 women and 24 children, in addition to 1,246 others who were injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Health Minister Firas Abiad earlier said that the Israeli airstrikes forced thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon, particularly those near border areas, towards the north.

The Lebanese authorities said it opened schools and other institutions to accommodate civilians displaced by Israeli airstrikes in the country’s south.

In a statement, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said he directed governors to cooperate fully with the mass evacuation from southern regions.

The Israeli army on Monday evening claimed that it had hit over 1,100 Hezbollah targets in the last 24 hours in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The army said it used more than 1,400 different munitions in some 650 sorties of its fighter jets over Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.