Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the US announced an alleged ceasefire for the country on 16 April, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday.
The US-brokered ceasefire came into effect just after midnight on 17 April, with Israeli troops still positioned deep inside southern Lebanon.
In comments published by his office on X after a cabinet meeting, Salam 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.
Salam said Lebanon was striving to uphold the ceasefire but that the latest escalation between Iran and Israel 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 forced evacuation orders across Lebanon.
Israel has also killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon since 2 March.
