Israeli forces have carried out a devastating bombardment across Lebanon, killing hundreds of people, hours after a two-week ceasefire was announced in the United States-Israeli war on Iran.
Lebanon’s Civil Defence said at least 254 people were killed and 1,165 others were wounded in air strikes that targeted areas in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon, Sidon, and several villages in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that the attack was its largest coordinated assault on Lebanon since it started a new military operation in the country on March 2, “targeting more than 100 Hezbollah command centres and military sites”.
In a written statement, the head of Lebanon’s syndicate of doctors, Elias Chlela, urgently called for “all physicians from all specialities” to head to any hospital they could to offer help, with one of Beirut’s biggest hospitals saying it needed donations of all blood types.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Lebanon was not part of the US-Iran truce, but mediator Pakistan said that the ceasefire included the country. US President Donald Trump said Lebanon was “separate” and not part of the agreement.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called the attacks on densely populated areas a “full-fledged war crime.”
“Today’s crime, coinciding with the ceasefire agreement declared in the region — an agreement that Israel and its political and security apparatus have failed to uphold — is a serious test for the international community and a blatant challenge to all international laws, norms, and conventions, which Israel violates daily through its unprecedented campaign of human assassination in modern history,” Berri said.
“It is also a test for all Lebanese — political, religious, and civil leaders — to unite in solidarity with the martyrs. May God have mercy on the martyrs, grant a speedy recovery to the wounded, and protect Lebanon,” he added.–Al Jazeera
