Israel dismisses global calls for a ceasefire with Hezbollah and continues a bombing campaign that has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon since Monday.
At least 25 people have been killed since dawn, according to the Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad.
While hostilities are most intense in southern Lebanon, Israeli air raids have also been reported in the Bekaa Valley, in the eastern part of the country, according to state-run NNA agency.
The UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon has warned that the country is facing bloodshed not seen in decades, and that the crisis could deteriorate even further.
“The recent escalations in Lebanon are nothing short of catastrophic,” said humanitarian coordinator Imran Riza. “We are witnessing the deadliest period in Lebanon in a generation, and many express their fear that this is just the beginning.”
There are now 446 schools, universities and institutes that have turned into shelters for displaced people, according to an updated list from Lebanon’s National Committee for Coordination of Disaster and Crisis Response Operations.
Youssef Bakhash, head of the Lebanese Doctors Syndicate informed media that 5,000 people are currently hospitalised in the country.
Among those hospitalised, 777 were injured in last week’s pager and walkie-talkie blasts, with 152 in critical condition, according to Margaret Harris, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO).
“That means they’re not leaving the hospital for quite some time, and so every day of bombing and blasts fills up beds that can’t be unfilled,” Harris said.
While aid agencies and hospitals, with the support of the WHO, prepared for potential mass-casualty events in Lebanon, those scenarios did not anticipate anywhere near the numbers they are seeing, Harris added.
“It was way beyond anything that normal planning, even for a horrific event like this, would have expected”, she said.
The UN agency for children says the Israeli air attacks on Lebanon in recent days have already killed more children per day than the 2006 war, which lasted for 33 days and killed about 1,200 people.
“The average number of children killed per day in Lebanon this week is more than double the number of children killed per day during the country’s devastating 2006 conflict,” UNICEF said.
An estimated 400 children, or about 12 children per day, were killed then compared with 50 children killed in a span of two days, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
