Israel-Hizbollah war death toll rises to 1,001 in Lebanon: Ministry
- Last updated: March 19, 2026 | 22:38 ..
Lebanon's health ministry said on Thursday that Israeli attacks have killed 1,001 people in the country since war erupted between Israel and Hizbollah on March 2, raising a previous toll of 968 a day earlier.
The new ministry statement said the toll included 79 women, 118 children and 40 health workers, with 2,584 other people wounded.
Hizbollah has not announced its losses.
Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday condemned an airstrike that wounded a TV crew from state-run RT in Lebanon as not "accidental", amid ongoing Israeli strikes and ground operations in the south of the country.
Video agency Ruptly — a subsidiary of RT — posted footage showing an explosion and plumes of smoke rising through the air metres behind RT's reporter, who was wearing a bulletproof vest with a sign "Press" on it as he delivered an on-air report.
The reporter and a cameraman "were injured in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, while they were reporting," Ruptly said on Telegram, adding both were "conscious and receiving medical attention."
"Given the killing of 200 journalists in Gaza, today's events cannot be called accidental," the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram, without naming Israel. "The rocket hit not a 'critical strategic military facility,' but rather the location of a report," Zakharova added.
The Russian embassy in Lebanon said that "attacks on media workers on editorial assignments are unacceptable" and called for an "appropriate investigation" into the incident. A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists said last month, blaming Israel for two-thirds of the deaths.
The Lebanese state electricity company said on Thursday that Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon earlier that day had put a main power substation out of service, a sign of expanding Israeli attacks on Lebanese infrastructure.
In a statement carried by Lebanon's state media, the electricity authority said the attack damaged various parts of the station in Bint Jbeil, impacting power provision in the city and surrounding towns.
Agencies