Death toll in Lebanon tops 3,000 in 13 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah

BEIRUT – The 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has killed more than 3,000 people, the country’s health ministry said Monday, more than double the number of people killed since the last major war two decades ago.

The war shows no signs of ending and Israel has said it is carrying out new operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon and parts of Syria, while Hezbollah continues to fire dozens of rockets into northern Israel.

Hezbollah began firing rockets at northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 sparked a war in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies of Iran.

For nearly a year, the conflict was largely limited to areas along the border between Israel and Lebanon. The conflict escalated sharply on September 23 when Israeli airstrikes launched intense airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing hundreds and displacing nearly 1.2 million people.

Read more: The myth of Hezbollah dispelled

Israel launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon on October 1, causing widespread destruction in border villages but making little progress inside Lebanese territory. Israel says it is destroying Hezbollah’s weapons and command centers near the border, including an extensive tunnel system built by Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Sunday’s attacks killed 16 people and injured 90, raising the death toll to 3,002. At least 13,492 people were injured. In its casualties, the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and Hezbollah fighters. Israel said hundreds of Hezbollah fighters had been killed.

In Israel, Hezbollah attacks killed 72 people, including 30 soldiers, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. More than 60,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

Also on Monday, Israel announced it would end an agreement facilitating the work of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, the main aid provider in the Gaza Strip.

It was the first step in implementing a law passed last week that would sever ties with the agency, which Israel says has been infiltrated by Hamas, and prevent it from operating in Israel.

The agency, known as UNRWA, denies the accusations and says it is taking steps to ensure its neutrality.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that it had notified the UN of the cancellation of the 1967 agreement that facilitates the work of UNRWA. The statement said UNRWA “is part of the problem in Gaza, not part of the solution.”

Israel controls all entry into Gaza, and aid groups warn the law could seriously hamper UNRWA’s work, creating further obstacles to addressing Gaza’s serious humanitarian crisis.

Israel says UNRWA is responsible for only 13% of aid flowing into Gaza and argues that other UN agencies and aid groups can fill the gap. But aid groups say UNRWA is essential, and the agency argues that the Israeli figures do not take into account the key role it plays in coordinating aid supplies.

“Without UNRWA coordination, without UNRWA logistics platforms… no UN agency can operate at the scale required,” said Jonathan Fowler, an agency spokesman.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States has made its opposition to the law clear and has serious concerns about not enough aid trucks entering Gaza. “We have serious concerns about the consequences of its full implementation, as well as our concerns about the underlying humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, even before Israel passed the law,” he told reporters in Washington on Monday.

The agency provides education, health care and other basic services to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that created Israel and their descendants, who now number nearly six million throughout the region. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s population.

The rest of the law will come into force in three months.

— Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.