The death toll from Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon has risen to 274 people

The number of victims of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombing raids on southern Lebanese territory has risen to 274, and those injured to 1,024. The emergency center of the country's health ministry said on September 23.

"The death toll has reached 274 people, <...> including 21 children," - stated on the page of the Lebanese Ministry of Health in Facebook (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

Firas Abyad, the republic's acting health minister, told a press conference in Beirut that 21 children and 39 women were among the victims. Also killed are several ambulance personnel whose vehicles were targeted by air strikes.

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Earlier on September 23, 182 civilians were reported dead and more than 727 wounded. Iraq's Shiite "people's militia" announced mobilization for humanitarian aid to Lebanon. Militia leader Falih al-Fayyad also called on the international community to help Lebanon in coordination with the Iraqi government.

On the night of September 22, the IDF reported that Lebanon struck Israel with 10 rockets. Hezbollah indicated that the target was the Israeli Air Force Ramat David airbase, which is about 50 kilometers from the Lebanese border. On the same day, it was reported that more than 100 rockets were launched from Lebanon and were intercepted or landed in open terrain.

Before that, on September 21, Israel imposed a special state of affairs in the north of the country due to the threat of shelling from Lebanon. In particular, there appeared restrictions on meetings there: groups on the street should not be more than 30 people, and indoors - more than 300.

On September 20, Israel targeted Lebanon's capital Beirut - the IDF sought to eliminate Hezbollah Shiite commander Ibrahim Aqil, who is a member of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah's top military body, the Jihad Council. The movement confirmed Akil's death. Fifteen other members of the movement were killed along with him, including senior commanders of the Radwan special forces. The country's health ministry later said the number of victims of the attack had risen to 45.

On September 17, multiple people were seriously injured in pager explosions in Beirut and southern Lebanon. The next day, various wireless devices exploded in cars and on motorcycles. These were portable radios, which were different from pagers. Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah representatives blamed Israel for the explosions.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israel's territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, as well as invaded border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.