BEIRUT, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel carried out 3,491 air raids in Lebanon between April 17 and June 7 despite an ongoing ceasefire, Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa said on Monday.
Seventy Israeli airstrikes and 33 missiles were recorded on Sunday alone, Menassa was quoted by the National News Agency as saying at a ministerial meeting.
In addition, 47 members of Lebanon's military and security institutions have been killed since March 1, he added.
He also reviewed what he described as Israeli attacks targeting civilian areas, as well as attacks affecting personnel of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Lebanese Armed Forces, and other security agencies.
According to figures presented at the meeting, Lebanese authorities documented 407 Israeli demolition operations, six land-clearing operations, and six ground incursions between April 17 and June 7. The data showed a cumulative toll of 3,526 deaths and 10,733 injuries during the same period.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on April 17, yet Israeli troops have remained positioned deep inside southern Lebanon and kept fighting the Iran-backed militant group of Hezbollah.
Also on Monday, the Israeli military said three projectiles were launched toward Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Two of the projectiles were intercepted, while one landed near the troops, causing no injuries, it said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said on Monday that Lebanese-U.S.-Israeli negotiations aimed at ending the war in Lebanon had reached "a point of no return," expressing confidence that the talks were moving in the right direction despite the complexity of the issues involved.
The developments came on the second day of the worst escalation between Israel and Iran since a truce took effect in April. Iran fired missiles at Israel on Sunday in response to what it called the latter's "widespread crimes" in Lebanon, and Israel responded with airstrikes across Iran despite Washington's call for restraint. ■
