The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in last October had reached 2,986, with injuries rising to13,402, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Eighteen people were killed and 83 others injured on Sunday in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, said the ministry.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest report that due to Israel's continued air strikes and bombings, the humanitarian situation in Lebanon today is more severe than it was in 2006, when a major conflict between Lebanon and Israel broke out.
Imran Riza, who served as the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), condemned attacks against civilians and infrastructure, and called on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and protect the people.
The OCHA said in its report that the Israeli army had repeatedly asked people in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, Nabatieh in the south, and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut to evacuate, before launching airstrikes on these areas.
As key infrastructure such as medical institutions have been damaged by airstrikes, many hospitals are overloaded, and some hospitals are facing a shortage of blood supplies, urgently needing blood donations to cope with the surge in the number of wounded, said the report.
Previously, due to the continued airstrikes by the Israeli army, arrangements for the delivery of aid supplies to Baalbek had to be postponed, and medical supplies provided to Lebanon by other countries were also forced to be postponed due to frequent attacks near the airport.
Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon rises to 2,986
