MARJAYOUN: Israeli strikes killed about 100 Lebanese on Monday in the heaviest and deadliest assault in nearly a year, as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes amid an escalating air campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese fled southward and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was clogged with vehicles heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Israeli military announced Monday that it had struck some 300 targets, targeting Hezbollah weapons sites. Some strikes hit residential areas in towns in the southern and eastern Bekaa Valley. One strike hit a wooded area as far away as Byblos in central Lebanon, more than 80 miles from the border north of Beirut. The military said it was expanding airstrikes to include areas in the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border, after already striking more than 300 sites in southern Lebanon. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari said residents of the valley should immediately evacuate areas where Hezbollah stores weapons. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli military post in the Galilee. It also attacked for a second day the facilities of the Haifa-based Rafael defense company.
As Israel carried out the strikes, Israeli authorities reported a series of air raid sirens in northern Israel, warning of incoming rockets from Lebanon. On Monday morning, Israel issued a broad warning urging residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate homes and other buildings in which it says Hezbollah has stored weapons. It was the first such warning in nearly a year of ever-escalating conflict and came after a particularly intense exchange of fire on Sunday.
Hezbollah launched about 150 rockets, missiles and drones toward northern Israel in retaliation for the strikes that killed a senior commander and dozens of fighters. There was no sign of an immediate exodus from southern Lebanese villages, and the warning left open the possibility that some residents might live in or near the targeted structures without knowing they are at risk. The mounting attacks and counterattacks have raised fears of all-out war, even as Israel is still battling Hamas in Gaza and trying to return dozens of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Hezbollah has vowed to continue its attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group. Israel says it is committed to returning calm to its northern border. Associated Press journalists in southern Lebanon reported heavy airstrikes on Monday morning targeting many areas, including some far from the border. Lebanon’s state-controlled National News Agency said the strikes hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) north of the Israel-Lebanon border, for the first time since exchanges began in October. No injuries were reported there.
The Chief of the General Staff approves strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon from the Underground Operations Center of the Israel Defense Forces Headquarters. So far, more than 300 Hezbollah targets have been attacked today. image.twitter.com/hbNKWJ8QAs— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 23, 2024
Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern regions of Baalbek and Hermel, where a shepherd was killed and two members of a family were wounded, according to the news agency. It said a total of 30 people were injured in the strikes. The Lebanese Health Ministry asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be performed later. The ministry said in a statement that its request was aimed at keeping hospitals ready to treat people injured by “Israel’s increasing aggression against Lebanon.”
An Israeli military official said Israel is focused on air operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the strikes are aimed at limiting Hezbollah’s ability to launch further attacks against Israel. Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to stay away from any buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons until further notice.
“If you are in a building that houses weapons for Hezbollah, stay away from the people until further notice,” the message said in Arabic, according to Lebanese media. Lebanon’s information minister, Ziad Makary, said in a statement that his office in Beirut had received a recorded message telling people to leave the building.
“This is taking place within the framework of psychological warfare implemented by the enemy,” Makary said, urging people “not to give the matter more attention than it deserves.” It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied due to near-daily exchanges of fire. Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire southern communities into militant bases, complete with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure.
That could prompt the Israeli military to launch an especially intense bombing campaign, even if no ground forces are mobilized. The military said it had struck more than 150 militant sites early Monday. Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media of airstrikes and large plumes of smoke. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes in different areas. An Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a senior Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen fighters, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.
Last week, thousands of communication devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Hezbollah began firing on Israel a day after the Oct. 7 attack in what it said was an attempt to corral Israeli forces into helping Palestinian fighters in Gaza.
Israel has responded with airstrikes and the conflict has escalated steadily over the past year. The fighting has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. It has also sparked wildfires that have destroyed agriculture and scarred the landscape.
Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah back from the border so its citizens can return home, saying it prefers to do so diplomatically but is prepared to use force. Hezbollah has said it will keep up its attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, but that looks increasingly elusive as the war nears its anniversary.
On Oct. 7, Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its count. It says women and children account for just over half of the dead. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
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