Residents inspecting their properties the day after an Israeli bombardment in the border village of Adaisseh, March 5, 2024. (Credit: Hassan Fneich/AFP)
On Wednesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health published its latest assessment on the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon. Based on hospital data up to and including March 5, 2024, it counts a total of 1,126 victims since Oct. 8, 2023, including 308 deaths and 219 wounded requiring hospitalization.
Of the total number of victims recorded, both dead and injured, 88 percent were men and 96 percent were Lebanese nationals, 60 percent of whom were aged between 25 and 44. Of the injuries recorded by the ministry, 44 percent were due to trauma caused by Israeli bombardment, 34 percent to explosions, 18 percent to exposure to chemical products and 3 percent to gunfire.
As usual, the ministry did not give a breakdown of the number of people displaced from southern Lebanon since Oct. 8, the start of the conflict, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
These regular assessments published by the Ministry of Health are based exclusively on hospital figures, while other data are made public by other sources. According to a count published by L'Orient Today on Wednesday, 234 Hezbollah members alone have been killed since Oct. 8.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.