AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the U.S. announced a ceasefire for the country on April 16, Lebanon's defence minister, Michel Menassa, said on Monday.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect just after midnight on April 17, with Israeli troops still positioned deep inside southern Lebanon, Reuters reported on Monday. While it has largely halted air strikes on Beirut and its suburbs, the truce has failed to halt fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
During a cabinet meeting, Menassa said that from April 17 to June 7, Israel had carried out 3,491 air strikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six "razing" operations, or demolitions - which have left some entire villages in the southernmost strip of Lebanon entirely flattened. The statistics were later published on X by the office of Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters.
Salam said the latest escalation had caused additional waves of displacement, straining Lebanon's ability to host fleeing families.
Already, more than 1 million people - a fifth of Lebanon's population - have been displaced by Israel's strikes and evacuation warnings across Lebanon since the war erupted on March 2.
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