Geneva (AFP) – The scale of the killing in Israeli strikes on Lebanon Wednesday is “horrific”, the UN rights chief said, urging the international community to help end the unfolding “nightmare”.

At least 112 people were killed and 837 more were wounded in Lebanon Wednesday after Israel launched a wave of strikes unprecedented in the current war, according to the latest Lebanese health ministry toll.

Volker Turk, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the attacks, saying the numbers killed and injured were appalling.

“The scale of the killing and destruction in Lebanon today is nothing short of horrific,” he said in a statement.

“Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief. It places enormous pressure on a fragile peace, which is so desperately needed by civilians.”

Mass casualties have been reported, and hospitals overwhelmed, the statement added.

A UN Human Rights team at the site of a strike in Beirut described a scene of devastation, with several dead bodies amid the rubble.