BEIRUT, November 19. /TASS/. At least 28 people were killed and 107 more wounded following Israeli air raids targeting residential areas in Lebanon over the past day, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

The largest number of killed and wounded people (19 and 75 respectively) over the past day was registered in the country’s southern regions of Nabatieh, Saida and Tyre, while nine more were killed and 32 more wounded in Mount Lebanon governate.

The overall death toll from Israeli bombardments and artillery attacks since the outbreak of the current escalation in October 2023 has reached 3,544 people, including 230 children and 670 women, while 15,036 sustained wounds.

Tensions erupted again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, after militants from the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting hundreds of Israelis. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and initiated bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah Shia movement, carrying out massive airstrikes on its military targets. The Israeli army announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon in the early hours of October 1.