The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) said that “the humanitarian situation in Lebanon has reached levels that exceed the severity” of the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, with many more now killed and displaced, Al Jazeera reports.

The statement came as the Lebanese Health Ministry updated the death toll from Israeli attacks on the country to at least 2,968 people. Another 13,319 have been wounded.

The Lebanese government says some 1.2 million people have been displaced, while the International Organization for Migration said its count shows at least 842,648 people have been forced to flee their homes.

The 2006 war killed 1,191 people in Lebanon, while more than 900,000 fled their homes, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The situation has escalated anew, due to Israel’s forced displacement orders for the residents of eastern Baalbek and southern Nabatieh, OCHA said.

The toll on the population has been exacerbated by the destruction of critical infrastructure, including healthcare, it added.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on November 2. — AFP
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on November 2. — AFP

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