Israel Kills 4,301 in Lebanon, Injures 12,199; Rescuers Find Two Bodies in Wadi Slouki

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israel has killed 4,301 people and injured a further 12,199 since it re-escalated its war on Lebanon on March 2, as the death toll topped 4,300 in Israeli operations.

In southern Lebanon, security sources confirmed to L'Orient Today that rescue teams and the Lebanese Army found one injured person and discovered two bodies in Wadi Slouki after more than two weeks of searching for four people who went missing on June 15 while returning to the South following the cease-fire.

L'Orient Today

The four missing were identified by L'Orient Today as Mohammad Hassan (aged 34), Ali Qachmar (aged 39), Hadi Reqqa (aged 19), and Jawad Bazzi (aged 19), with Hassan later confirmed alive by his wife, Farah, and taken to hospital.

L'Orient Today reported that Hassan said an Israeli drone targeted their vehicle with a missile while a second missile struck the other motorbike, after which he “managed, despite his injuries, to crawl to a house near the valley where he took refuge.”

The same L'Orient Today report said a rescue team official explained that “The remains were in an advanced state of decomposition,” and that the search teams noticed traces of blood that led them to inspect a house near the valley.

In Beirut, the new acting U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, the French diplomat Jean Arnault, met President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and said he had “heard a common message that the Lebanese people are capable of facing challenges in a spirit of unity and national solidarity,” according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

The U.N. mission in Lebanon said the meetings provided “an opportunity to discuss key developments and avenues for cooperation between the United Nations and Lebanon in order to advance the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 [2006],” which refers to the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon.

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Human Rights Watch said the framework deal signed between Israel and Lebanon last month “threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon,” adding that parts of the text appear aimed at preventing victims of serious international crimes from seeking justice before international forums.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said, “Time and time again we have seen civilians in Lebanon pay the price for successive cycles of conflict and serious violations and crimes under international law with no accountability.”

L'Orient Today reported that Israel and Lebanon signed the U.S.-brokered agreement on June 26 with the aim of disarming Hezbollah and restoring the monopoly of arms to the Lebanese Army, while UNIFIL’s spokesperson Kandice Ardiel warned the situation in southern Lebanon was extremely fragile.

“Health Ministry: Israel has killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon since 2 March The Health Ministry has reported that Israel has killed 4,301 people and injured a further 12,199 since it re-escalated its war on Lebanon on March 2”

L'Orient Today

Shafaq News said Israel carried out airstrikes on about 10 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Bint Jbeil district “in a response to attacks targeting its forces inside the security zone,” as Lebanese media reported continued Israeli military activity in Nabatieh district including gunfire and drone incidents.

WAFA said the Lebanese Health Ministry recorded 4,301 deaths and 12,199 injuries due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Lebanon since March 2, and it reported that an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade over Nabatieh al-Fawqa and then dropped a second stun grenade five minutes later.

WAFA also reported that Lebanon’s National News Agency said an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in the town of Siddiqine in the Tyre district before carrying out a second strike, injuring two people.

Against that backdrop, Human Rights Watch said the framework deal “threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon,” while Amnesty International warned that any agreement failing to center victims’ rights to justice, accountability, and reparations “will falter underneath the very impunity it builds.”