41.   Officials feared there would also be a high toll as returnees to rural areas started tilling their fields for the planting season that begins next month.

42.   Officials blamed the high toll on the emergence of unusual strains of the virus.

43.   Peres blamed the high civilian toll on Hezbollah strategy.

44.   Some experts have blamed the high tolls and losses on insufficient investment by the government in agriculture over the past decade.