Death toll from Wednesday’s Israeli strikes in Lebanon rises to 303: Health Ministry

Israeli airstrikes killed 303 people and injured 1,150 others across Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry said at least 110 children, women and elderly people were among those killed in Wednesday’s deadly strikes.

Efforts are still ongoing to recover the bodies of the victims from under the rubble in several locations, the statement said.

The ministry said the fatalities have brought the overall death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 to 1,888 people, while 6,092 others have been injured.

Separately, a medical source said four paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Burj Qalawiya in southern Lebanon, bringing the total number of deaths in the country on Thursday to 24.

The Israeli army escalated airstrikes across Lebanon since Wednesday despite the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

While Pakistani mediators and Tehran said the ceasefire includes Lebanon, Washington and Tel Aviv denied that.

• Writing by Rasa Evrensel in Istanbul