BEIRUT: Israeli air strikes battered Lebanon on Friday (Mar 6), sending the death toll since Monday up to at least 217, according to Lebanese authorities, as the premier warned “a humanitarian disaster is looming”.
The Israeli military renewed its strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday afternoon, Lebanese state media reported, following night raids that left heavy damage in the area after residents fled en masse in response to Israeli evacuation warnings.
Israel says it has killed “over 70” members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
A live broadcast by AFP showed plumes of smoke rising above buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a typically densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway.
Speaking to foreign ambassadors Friday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said “the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented”.
According to Lebanese authorities, at least 217 people have been killed and 798 wounded since Israel’s expanded attacks on Monday, with more than 95,000 people displaced.