Israel, Hezbollah war persists despite truce extension; Lebanon’s death toll passes 3,000
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began on March 2, the country’s health ministry reported the latest death toll on Monday.
Hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, which have been reignited by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, have continued since US President Donald Trump first declared a ceasefire on April 16, and the clashes are mostly limited to Southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese official said that the 45-day extension of the ceasefire, announced after the start of the third round of talks between Lebanon and Israel hosted by the United States on Friday, started at midnight.
US-led mediation emerged in parallel with diplomacy aimed at ending the US-Iran conflict. Iran has said an end to Israel’s war in Lebanon is one of its demands for an agreement on the broader conflict. Hezbollah, which opened fire on Israel on March 2, opposes Beirut’s participation in the talks.
AIR ATTACKS, EXPLOSIVE UAV
Security sources in Lebanon said that a commander and his daughter of the Hezbollah-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group were killed in an Israeli attack overnight near the eastern Lebanon city of Baalbeck.
The Israeli military said it killed commander Wael Mahmoud Abd al-Halim in an attack after taking steps to “reduce the risk of harm to civilians.” There was no mention of Halim’s daughter. Hezbollah said it launched an explosive drone at the Iron Dome air defense position in Israel’s northern Galilee region and carried out other attacks on Israeli forces in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said some “launches” targeted Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, as well as an explosive drone crossing into Israeli territory.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israel carried out air strikes on more than half a dozen locations in Southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it could not comment on the reported airstrikes without the coordinates of each and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Hezbollah attack on the Iron Dome position.
The Israeli army announced early on Monday that it had hit more than 30 Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in the last 24 hours and warned residents of three southern villages to leave their homes, saying it intended to act against Hezbollah.
THE NUMBER OF DEAD INCREASED
Israeli forces are occupying a self-declared security zone in the south and razing villages, saying they aim to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah fighters entrenched in civilian areas.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that the death toll in Lebanon increased to 3,020 people, 619 of whom were women, children and healthcare workers.
It was not stated how many warriors were among the dead.
Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s casualty figures said many Hezbollah fighters killed in the battle were not included in the health ministry’s death toll.
Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters were killed in the battle, based on casualty estimates from within the group. Hezbollah media office said at the time that the figure of thousands of fighters killed during that period was incorrect.
Israeli officials said 18 soldiers have been killed in Hezbollah attacks or while serving in southern Lebanon since March 2, as well as a contractor working for an engineering company on behalf of Israel’s defense ministry. Two civilians lost their lives in Hezbollah’s attacks in northern Israel.
