MAJRAJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP) – Israeli air strikes killed more than 270 Lebanese on Monday in the heaviest bombardment since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes ahead of a major air campaign against Hezbollah.
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern coastal city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading to Beirut in the largest exodus since the fighting in 2006. More than a thousand other people were wounded in the strikes – a staggering toll in a single day for victims of Israeli bombardment. A country still reeling from Deadly attack on communications devices Last week.
The death toll exceeded that of Beirut. devastating explosion in port 2020When hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded, killing at least 218 people and injuring more than 6,000 others.
In a recorded message to Lebanese civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to heed Israel’s calls to evacuate, saying, “Take this warning seriously.”
“Please get out of harm’s way now, and once our operation is over, you can return to your homes safely,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military said Monday evening that it carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, without immediately providing details.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad told a news conference in Beirut that the strikes hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. The government ordered schools and universities closed across much of the country and began preparing shelters for those displaced from the south.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Reman, as seen from the town of Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The Israeli military said it struck about 800 targets, saying it was targeting Hezbollah weapons sites. Some of the strikes hit residential areas in towns in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. One hit a remote forested area as far away as Byblos in central Lebanon, more than 80 miles from the border north of Beirut.
The military said it had expanded the scope of the airstrikes to include areas of the valley along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had a well-established presence in the valley, where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Israeli military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari reiterated warnings to residents of the area to evacuate areas where Hezbollah stores weapons, including the valley. The warnings left open the possibility that some residents may be living in or near the targeted buildings without realizing they pose a threat.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired dozens of rockets at Israel, including at military bases, and for a second day targeted facilities of the Haifa-based defense company Rafael.
While Israel carried out the attacks, Israeli authorities announced a series of air raid sirens in northern Israel warning of rockets being fired from Lebanon.
The evacuation warnings were the first of their kind in nearly a year. The conflict is steadily escalating. This came after a heavy exchange of fire on Sunday, when Hezbollah fired some 150 rockets, shells and drones at northern Israel in response to the strikes that killed Supreme Commander And dozens of fighters.
The increasing strikes and counterattacks have raised fears of all-out war, even as Israel continues to fight Hamas in Gaza and tries to return dozens of captured hostages. In the Hamas attack on October 7Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, an Iranian-backed militant group. Israel says it is committed to restoring calm to its northern border.
Associated Press journalists in southern Lebanon reported heavy airstrikes targeting several areas Monday morning, including some far from the border.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit a forested area in the central Byblos province, about 130 kilometres (81 miles) north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since clashes began in October.
Israel also bombed targets in the Baalbek and Hermel regions in northeastern Lebanon, where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were injured, according to the news agency, which added that the total number of injured people reached 30.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Khiyam, as seen from the town of Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll had reached 274. It 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 deal with casualties from “the expanding Israeli aggression on Lebanon.”
An Israeli military official said Israel was focusing on air operations and had no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations, said the strikes were aimed at limiting Hezbollah’s ability to launch further strikes on Israel.
Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to stay away from any building where Hezbollah stores weapons until further notice.
The message in Arabic, according to Lebanese media, read: “If you are in a building that contains Hezbollah weapons, stay away from the village until further notice.”
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said in a statement that his office in Beirut received a recorded message asking people to leave the building.
Makari added that “this comes within the framework of the psychological warfare practiced by the enemy,” calling on people “not to give the matter more attention than it deserves.”
Communities on both sides of the border have been largely evacuated due to the almost daily exchange of gunfire.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of turning entire communities in the south into military bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. This could prompt the Israeli military to launch a particularly heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move.
An Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut 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 communications devices used mainly by Hezbollah members were destroyed, Exploded in different areas of LebanonThe attacks killed 39 people and injured nearly 3,000 others. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied any responsibility.
Hezbollah began firing at Israel a day after the Oct. 7 attack, in what the group said was an attempt to disrupt Israeli forces’ efforts to aid Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict has steadily escalated over the past year.
Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah away 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 continue its attacks until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, but which seems increasingly out of reach As the war approaches its anniversary.
On October 7, Hamas militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250 others. About 100 prisoners remain in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have died, after most of the rest were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says women and children make up just over half the dead. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
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Liedman reported from Jerusalem, and Marwa reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war on https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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