BEIRUT: The death toll from Israeli attacks across Lebanon since last Monday has risen to 486, with 1,313 people injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
The ministry’s Health Emergency Operations Centre said in a statement that the casualties were recorded following Israeli assaults launched since March 2, as the regional conflict continues to escalate.
The latest escalation follows a joint attack by Israel and the United States on Iran on February 28, which killed more than 1,200 people, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has since responded with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military facilities, widening fears of a broader regional confrontation.
Meanwhile, fierce clashes erupted on Monday in eastern Lebanon after Israeli forces carried out a helicopter-borne landing in the Bekaa Valley, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
Fighters from the Hezbollah resistance organisation engaged Israeli troops near the town of Nabi Sheet, an area where the group maintains a strong presence.
Hezbollah said around 15 Israeli helicopters entered Lebanese airspace from the Syrian side of the border before landing troops in the region.
The group said its fighters confronted the helicopters and troops using what it described as “appropriate weapons,” adding that the fighting was continuing.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency earlier reported heavy clashes on the outskirts of Nabi Sheet, saying local fighters were attempting to repel Israeli forces who had landed in the area.
Two Hezbollah officials in eastern Bekaa told AFP that one Israeli helicopter was hit during the clashes.
The incident follows another Israeli commando operation in the same area earlier in the week. On Friday night, Israeli special forces carried out a raid around Nabi Sheet in an attempt to locate the remains of Israeli airman Ron Arad, who has been missing since 1986.
That operation failed and resulted in heavy casualties, with 41 people killed, according to reports.
Earlier, the Israeli military had warned residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of southern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of planned attacks on Hezbollah positions.
In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers entering the border towns of Odaisseh and Aitaroun with artillery shells.
The group also reported clashes with Israeli troops in Odaisseh.
The Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, marking the first fatalities among Israeli forces since the latest offensive began on March 2.
