Lebanon’s crisis response unit announced Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours, raising the total toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,229 killed and 10,380 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The casualty toll was notably higher than previous days, with 22 people killed and 117 wounded in two Israeli strikes on two locations in central Beirut. The strike caused the collapse of two residential buildings housing families and displaced individuals.
The crisis response unit report also recorded 57 airstrikes and incidents of shelling in the past day, mostly concentrated in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
Some 1,032 centers — including educational complexes, vocational institutes, universities and other institutions — are sheltering 187,000 people, including 39,000 families, displaced by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, the report said. Among these shelters, 837 have now reached full capacity.
Despite a major border crossing between Lebanon and Syria being out of commission after an Israeli strike hit the road last week, crowds have continued to flow across the border seeking relative safety in Syria. Between Sept. 23 and Oct. 9, Lebanese General Security recorded 317,457 Syrian citizens and 115,044 Lebanese citizens crossing into Syria, the report said.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s fourth repatriation plane left Beirut for Brazil on Friday, carrying 211 passengers including 12 infants, according to a statement from Brazil’s foreign ministry. The flight is set to land in Sao Paulo on Saturday morning local time after a stop to refuel in Lisbon.
The Brazilian government has evacuated 885 people and 11 pets from Lebanon in one week, the foreign ministry said.
About 21,000 Brazilians live in Lebanon, which is home to the largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East. Two Brazilian adolescents have been killed by Israeli bombardments in Lebanon.
The Brazilian Embassy in Beirut remains in contact with Brazilians and their close family members to organize a new repatriation flight depending on the security conditions, according to the foreign ministry.
