The death toll from an Israeli air strike that targeted Hezbollah military commanders in Beirut's southern suburbs this week has risen to 45, including three children and seven women, Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday.
"The number of dead has risen to 45 people," a ministry statement said, updating an earlier toll of 37 from the Friday attack. It said "work continues to remove the rubble for the third day in a row" and that DNA sampling would be used to determine the identities of some of the bodies.
Israel has signalled its intention to turn its focus to Iran-backed Hezbollah after nearly a year of cross-border fire that began with the outbreak of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Further exchanges of fire came after military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on Saturday said dozens of Israeli warplanes were "widely" striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s military said it carried out a “targeted strike” against senior members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in the Beirut suburb.
On Sunday, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon warned of an "imminent catastrophe" in the Middle East amid spiking violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, saying a military solution was not the answer.
"With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: There is NO military solution that will make either side safer," special coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement on X.
