More than 490 people were murdered by Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Monday, including over 90 women and children, according to Lebanese authorities. It was the bloodiest onslaught since the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2006. Prior to escalating its bombing campaign against Hezbollah, the Israeli military issued an evacuation notice to communities in southern and eastern Lebanon.
In the largest migration since 2006, thousands of Lebanese left the south, and the main route leaving the port city of Sidon in the south was congested with vehicles bound for Beirut.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, the strikes caused 1,645 injuries and 492 deaths, including 35 children and 58 women. This is a startling one-day toll for a nation still recovering from a fatal attack on communication devices last week.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying “take this warning seriously.”
Netanyahu said, “Please get out of harm’s way now.” “You can return safely to your homes after our operation is over.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military spokesman for Israel, stated that the army will take “any necessary measures” to drive Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Hagari stated that Hezbollah has suffered significant harm as a result of Monday’s extensive airstrikes. He did not, however, provide a timetable for the operation and stated that Israel was ready to invade Lebanon on the ground if necessary.
“We’re not searching for conflicts. We want to eliminate the threats,” he declared. “We’ll take any and all necessary steps to complete this mission.”
According to Hagari, since last October, Hezbollah has fired almost 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel, including 250 on Monday alone.
According to the IDF, Israeli jets destroyed attack drones, long- and short-range rockets, and cruise missiles when they hit 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday. The spokesperson displayed pictures of what he said were weapons stashed in private residences and claimed that the majority of them were hidden in residential locations.
He said during a press conference, “Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone.”
According to Israeli estimates, Hezbollah possesses over 150,000 rockets and missiles, including long-range weapons that can reach any location in Israel and guided missiles.
The Israeli military declared earlier on Monday night that it had launched a targeted attack in Beirut. It provided no specifics. According to the state-run National News Agency of Lebanon, three missiles struck the Beir al-Abed area in southern Beirut. According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, six people were hurt.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad reported that earlier strikes on hospitals, medical centers, and ambulances had hit residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel has expanded its airstrikes to include areas along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure built over the past 20 years. The goal is to allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.
Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel, including at military bases, and targeted Rafael defense firm facilities for a second day. Evacuation warnings were the first of their kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire Sunday. The increasing strikes and counterstrikes have raised fears of an all-out war, even as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and tries to negotiate the release of scores of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group.
The U.S. and numerous other countries are keen to present an “off-ramp” for both Israel and Hezbollah to reduce tensions and prevent an all-out war. A State Department official said the U.S. has “concrete ideas” for restoring calm that it will present to allies and partners at this week’s U.N. General Assembly.
U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border have stopped their patrols and are staying in their bases “given the volume of exchange of fire,” a U.N. spokesman said. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was “alarmed” at the escalating violence and large number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon.
Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied because of the near-daily exchanges of fire. Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure.
(AP)
