BEIRUT, November 18. /TASS/. The death toll from Israel’s strikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in early October 2023 has exceeded 3,500, with nearly 15,000 people being wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

According to the ministry, as many as 3,516 people have been killed, including 35 in the past 24 hours alone. As many as 143 civilians received wounds during the past day, bringing the overall number of those wounded up to 14,929.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

Israel has been delivering massive airstrikes on Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon since September 23, when it launched Operation Northern Arrows. Israel’s declared goal is to create safe conditions in the country’s northern areas so that tens of thousands of local residents could return to their homes. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was reportedly killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut on September 27. In the early hours of October 1, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in Lebanon’s border areas.