Israel battered Lebanon with rockets and missiles in the past week in what it called a pre-emptive strike against an anticipated Hezbollah attack. The strikes come after Hezbollah launched more than a 100 rockets into Israel, reaching as deep into the country as its capital Tel Aviv.
The Israeli strikes on Monday (September 23) was the deadliest in recent years. The single-day death toll of more than 500 is much higher than the monthly death tolls reported since 2018 in Lebanon. Data was taken from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) database.
Israeli forces and the Hezbollah have exchanged fire at the borders since Hamas’ attack on October 7 last year. However, recent escalations began after Israel detonated several pagers used by the Hezbollah in a bid to disrupt communication and target the militant group’s members.
In the graphic shown below, it can be seen that the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has escalated after October 7, 2023, especially in the regions around the border, which are the South and Nabatieh Governorates of Lebanon, and HaZafron and Golan of Israel.
This has triggered a new wave of displacement in Lebanon’s southern districts, which are the ones closest to Israel’s border. Between September 24 and 25, several thousands of people were displaced from districts along the border to Beirut and surrounding areas.
United Nations authorities in Lebanon said that over 90,000 people have been newly displaced since Israel’s strikes on September 23. This marks a significant increase in the total number of internally displaced people since October 7 last year.
Israel-Hezbollah conflict: All you need to know about the escalating cross-border tension
Five of the 12 U.N. refugee camps for Palestinians are in the south near the border, the closest of which is roughly 16 km away, or a 30-minute drive. Those registered with the U.N. was over 4,80,000 as of March last year.
In northern Israel, too, the war with Hezbollah has forced around 70,000 people out of their homes ever since Hamas’ 2023 attack. Israel’s Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu has said that getting these people back to their homes is one of his objectives, along with destroying Hamas once and for all. However, a ceasefire continues to remain out of reach. At the end of Israel’s two-week campaign against Lebanon and the death of one of Hezbollah’s most important leaders Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon’s future in the war has become murkier.
Published - September 29, 2024 12:57 pm IST
