Lebanon says 274 dead in Israeli strikes, including 21 children

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the death toll in Israeli strikes Monday rose to 274, including 21 children, the bloodiest daily toll in nearly a year of cross-border clashes.

The toll stood at "274 dead including 21 children and 39 women -- that's who we know about until now", Abiad told reporters, adding "thousands of families from the targeted areas have been displaced".

The dead also included two rescuers, with 16 other emergency workers wounded, he said, adding that "two ambulances, a fire truck and a medical centre were targeted".


The attacks wounded 1,024 people who were treated in 27 hospitals, Abiad said.

About 5,000 people had been wounded "in less than a week" of Israeli attacks, he said, after Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded and an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.

That number accounts for about half of the wounded toll of "10,000 to 11,000" in 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah last went to war.v