By Middle East Correspondent
LONDON (The Muslim News): Israeli attacks killed at least 17 civilians in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday, pushing the country’s death toll since March 2 to 2,696, with 8,264 others injured.
In a statement, the ministry said 35 people were injured in the latest strikes, which hit several areas in the south and caused extensive damage to residential buildings and infrastructure. The attacks were described by Lebanese authorities as further violations of a temporary ceasefire in place since April 17.
Israel has intensified its air and ground operations in Lebanon since March 2. Since then, more than 1.6 million people have been displaced, according to official figures. The Emergency Operations Centre of Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry said the latest figures confirm a continuing rise in casualties amid near-daily bombardment of southern towns.
The escalation comes as tensions continue across multiple fronts in the wider region.
Iranian media reported that two missiles were fired at a US patrol boat near Jask Island after it allegedly violated Iranian maritime rules near the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian naval sources described the incident as warning shots, while US Central Command denied that any of its vessels were struck. Separately, the United Arab Emirates said one of its oil tankers was hit by two drones while transiting the same strategic waterway without authorisation, highlighting growing insecurity in global shipping routes.
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in Gaza
In Gaza, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to 72,613, according to the Health Ministry.
A medical source said a 44-year-old man was shot dead in the Atatra area west of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza early Monday. Two others were killed in separate drone strikes in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood and the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, with several more wounded.
The ministry said nine additional people were injured over the past day, taking the total number of wounded since October 2023 to more than 172,457. It added that 833 Palestinians have been killed and 2,345 injured since a ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, amid continued strikes in multiple areas, including artillery shelling in eastern Gaza City and naval fire along the Rafah and Khan Younis coasts.
Israeli forces assaults Palestinians in occupied West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces briefly detained and assaulted five Palestinian men on Monday as they were heading to agricultural land in the Wadi Al-Khor area east of Deir Ballut, west of Salfit, according to local sources. Witnesses said illegal settlers also attacked farmers in Turmus Ayya, east of Ramallah, under the protection of Israeli forces, forcing them off their land. Rights groups say escalating settler violence has contributed to the displacement of at least 79 Bedouin communities in recent months, affecting more than 4,700 people.
Separately, the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission said women held in Damon Prison have been subjected to repeated repression campaigns, including beatings and tear gas, in more than 10 reported incidents over the past month.
The developments come amid ongoing regional instability spanning Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and the wider Middle East, with ceasefire agreements increasingly strained and violence continuing across multiple theatres.
[Photo: People mourn for 22-year-old Yahya al-Arec, who lost his life when the Israeli army targeted civilians in an attack in the Zeitoun neighborhood as his body was taken from the morgue of Al-Shifa Hospital for burial in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine, on May 4, 2026. Photojournalist: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA]
