Thirty-seven people were killed in Lebanon, raising the overall death toll to 254, as Israel struck Lebanon for seventh day.
By
AFP

Source:
AFP
19 Jul 2006 - 12:00 AM  UPDATED 22 Aug 2013 - 12:18 PM

The number wounded in Lebanon since hostilities broke out on July 12 now stands at more than 500, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The vast majority of the dead so far -- 254 -- have been civilians, some 30 of them foreigners, with the remainder being 23 soldiers and six fighters of Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Among the foreigners killed were seven Canadian tourists of Lebanese origin, six Brazilians, two Kuwaitis and a Jordanian, as well as some migrant workers from Asian countries, Syria and Iraq.

Israel's count is 25 dead -- 13 civilians in Hezbollah rocket attacks, and 12 servicemen.

In the latest deaths, nine members of the same family were found dead in the southern village of Qana in the rubble of their house which was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in the morning, police said.

Six of the bodies have been recovered while efforts were continuing to recover the three other corpses.

The single deadliest Israeli attack killed 11 Lebanese soldiers and wounded 40 at a military base east of Beirut.

Fourteen civilians died in a heavy pounding of southern villages along the Israeli border.

Israel had ordered residents to evacuate the area as it unleashed fierce firepower to wipe out Hezbollah positions, but thousands of people remain in their homes.

Ten more bodies were found in sites destroyed around Lebanon on Monday.

Other bodies were believed to remain buried under the rubble of what had once been multi-storey buildings.

Infrastructure destroyed

Damage to Lebanon's civilian infrastructure has been extensive with craters punched into the tarmac of Beirut's airport, making it unusable. Military airports have also been put out of action.

Roads have been bombard, including the main exit route for anxious foreigners trying to flee.

The highway from Beirut to the Syrian capital Damascus was cut on Tuesday after being repeatedly hit in recent days.

At least 38 other roads around Lebanon have also been cut, including several linking Beirut to its southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

About 45 bridges have been destroyed or badly damaged, including three major ones.

Ports have been hit, including the two biggest, in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli.

Around 15 petrol stations have been blown up, along with fuel depots and water pumping stations.

At least 100 residential buildings have been destroyed in southern Lebanon, and entire blocks in Beirut's southern suburbs, home to 500,000 people, have been levelled.

The headquarters of Hezbollah, a 12-building complex, has been the target of especially intensive bombing that has left nothing standing.

Beirut residents have taken to calling the site "Ground Zero" because of its resemblance to the rubble-strewn remains of New York's World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Various factories, businesses and company buildings have also been destroyed, among them the warehouses of one of the country's biggest distributors of food and household products.