Israel pummels three villages in Lebanon without warning, as death toll surpasses 3,000

Israeli artillery targeted villages in south and east Lebanon early on Tuesday, including Bint Jbeil, Maroun al-Ras, and at-Tiri, according to local media.

At least one person was killed as Israeli fighter jets bombed the town of Haris with the local mosque also flattened, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

Israeli strikes continued targeting east Lebanon without warning or calls for residents to evacuate, including the city of Bednayel, located around 14 miles from Baalbek.

In northern Israel, alerts were activated, with the air force stating fighter jets intercepted two launches coming from Lebanon, as well as an "unmanned aircraft" coming from the direction of Syria.

Haaretz reported that drone sirens were also activated in southern Israel, near Masada, after drones were launched from Iraq.

The Israeli army announced that a solider, who has not yet been named, with the 932nd Battalion in the Nahal Brigade was wounded in south Lebanon and is receiving treatment in hospital.

They added that the army killed two Hezbollah fighters, who held dual Asian nationalities, claiming they infiltrated during the war with no further information provided.

Death toll mounts

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s ministry of public health said on Monday that Israeli attacks on the country have killed at least 3,002 people in 13 months, with an additional 13,492 wounded, including 589 women and at least 185 children.

The UN’s agency for children, UNICEF, said at least one child a day has been killed and 10 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past month.

This comes as the World Health Organisation announced this week that there have been at least 201 Israeli attacks on medical workers in Lebanon over the past year, resulting in 151 emergency workers killed in the country and at least 212 others wounded.

The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR said this week that around 400 to 600 forcibly displaced people have been arriving in Iraq every day over the past week, with many of them staying in the cities of Najaf and Karbala.

The agency added that at least 28,350 refugees have arrived in Iraq since Israel ramped up attacks on Lebanon in mid-September.

Around 472,000 displaced Lebanese people have also crossed into Syria in recent weeks.