BEIRUT, September 30. /TASS/. The death toll from an Israeli air strike on the Ain el-Delb village in southern Lebanon on September 29 climbed to 45, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
According to the ministry’s post on Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as an extremist organization in Russia), 70 other people suffered injuries.
The ministry earlier pegged casualties at 24 dead and 29 injured. It said the strike demolished an entire residential building.
On September 17 and 18, numerous explosions of communication devices and other electronic gadgets swept across Lebanon, setting off a new wave of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese group blamed Israel for the incidents. Israel did not comment directly on the device detonations, but announced it was intensifying military operations in the north. On September 23, Israel started a military operation codenamed Northern Arrows against Hezbollah in Lebanon, carrying out widespread strikes at the group’s military sites. The stated goal is to create a secure environment in areas near the Israeli northern border, so that tens of thousands of people could return to their homes. In a strike on September 27 Israel eliminated Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.