Lebanese Prime Minister says Israel has bombed Lebanon nearly 3,500 times during ceasefire

Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the U.S. announced a ceasefire for the country on April 16, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday.

The U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect just after midnight on April 17, with Israeli troops still positioned deep inside southern Lebanon. While it has largely halted air strikes on Beirut and its suburbs, it has failed to halt fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

In comments published by his office on X after a cabinet meeting, Salam said that from April 17 to June 7, Israel had carried out 3,491 air strikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six "razing" operations, or demolitions - which have left some entire villages in the southernmost strip of Lebanon entirely flattened.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Salam said Lebanon was striving to uphold the ceasefire but that the latest escalation between Iran and Israel had caused additional waves of displacement, straining Lebanon's ability to host fleeing families.

Already, more than 1 million people - a fifth of Lebanon's population - have been displaced by Israel's strikes and evacuation warnings across Lebanon since the war erupted on March 2.

The latest conflict broke out when Hezbollah fired rockets on Israel in support of its ally Iran, which was being struck by Israel and the United States.

Hezbollah has continued firing at Israel and has rejected U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials aimed at bolstering the ceasefire with a lasting agreement.

On Sunday, Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs in retaliation for Hezbollah fire on northern Israel. In response, Tehran bombed northern Israel, which has fired back on various locations in Iran.

U.S. President ​Donald Trump said last week that ceasefires in the Middle East involved "shooting in a more moderate manner", rather than a total halt in fighting.

-Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by David Holmes/Reuters