Israel’s goal is to ‘spread terror’ – Lebanese health minister to RT

Israeli airstrikes have already killed over 1,300 people, Firass Abiad has said

As of Thursday evening, more than 1,300 people have been killed and almost 7,000 wounded in the Israeli bombing campaign, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told RT.

Israel has been bombing Lebanon for almost a week, in what the Israel Defense Forces dubbed “Operation Northern Arrows.” West Jerusalem says the strikes are aimed at damaging the capabilities of Hezbollah, the Shia militia based in the south of the country.

“On Black Monday, we had almost 600 innocent civilians who were killed, including 140 women and children, and almost 1800 injured, including healthcare professionals,” Abiad told RT in Beirut.

“Unfortunately, the carnage continues daily,” he added, bringing up the updated casualty figures.

According to Abiad, Israel has carried out “indiscriminate attacks on civilians,” starting with exploding communications devices and continuing with the bombing campaign.

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“I think that the main aim of these indiscriminate attacks is to spread an atmosphere of terror and to cause mass exodus,” the health minister said.

The IDF said on Thursday that it had carried out over 1,500 sorties against Lebanon since the beginning of the week, confirming strikes on southern Beirut and the Matraba border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, among others.

The strike on the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh targeted Mohammed Srur, also known as Abu Saleh, whom the IDF has accused of being commander of Hezbollah’s drone, cruise missile and air defense branch.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied all rumors of a ceasefire and said he had instructed the IDF to “continue fighting with full force.”

Meanwhile, the IDF has announced the impending delivery of $8.7 billion worth of military aid from the US, describing it as mainly ammunition for air defense systems.