And here are images of people from those fleeing southern Lebanon, evacuating further north within the country, to get away from Israeli air strikes coming across the border today.
Some even as far as Beirut despite the city’s southern suburb being bombed on Monday.
Buildings being turned into emergency evacuation centres.
After evacuating.
Southern Lebanon
Updated
Here are some additional images from the Israeli strikes on the southern suburb of Beirut earlier today.
More from just south of Beirut.
And this:
First responders:
Updated
Hezbollah has issued information stating that its southern front commander, Ali Karaki, is safe despite his apparently being the target of airstrikes just hours ago on Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut.
Karaki, the No. 3 leader of the military operation of Hezbollah, the powerful, Iran-backed Islamist movement, is “well” and is in a safe place, according to the group.
It was reported earlier today that the strike in Beirut, much further north than previous strikes on Monday further south and east in Lebanon, was directed by Israel at killing Karaki.
Updated
Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon rises again – health ministry
At least 356 people have been reported killed and 1,246 injured today in Lebanon since Israel began launching air strikes within the country this morning.
Parts of southern and eastern Lebanon were hit first and within the last two hours there were additional strikes on the southern suburb of Beirut.
The heightened death toll was reported by Lebanon’s health ministry.
It added that among those killed on Monday were 42 women and 24 children.
Israeli warplanes began pounding southern Lebanon in the early morning and then expanded its strikes to the Beqaa valley by the afternoon. Within the last two hours there was also an airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut – the second time the capital city was struck by Israel this week.
Updated
More government leaders outside of Israel and Lebanon are responding with apparent growing alarm to the Israeli strikes on parts of Lebanon today, which are in response to Iran-backed Hezbollah’s sustained attacks on northern Israel in the last year in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian cause.
As a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, appears further away than ever today, the eruption of the Israeli military response to Hezbollah in Israel’s northern neighbour, Lebanon, is further ratcheting up tension and fears in the whole region.
Turkey has now issued a warning.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon mark a new phase in its efforts to drag the entire region into chaos,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement, AFP reports.
Then Egypt’s foreign ministry called earlier today on “international powers and the United Nations security council to intervene immediately” to stop “the dangerous Israeli escalation in Lebanon”.
And Iraq seeks and “urgent” Arab meeting at the United Nations general assembly getting under way fully in New York, the UN HQ, tomorrow.
Updated
Israel says it has destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s air strikes in Lebanon today have destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets, adding to the most difficult week for the Iranian-backed movement since its creation.
Today is a significant peak. On this day we have taken out of order tens of thousands of rockets and precise munition. What Hezbollah has built over a period of 20 years since the second Lebanon War, is in fact being destroyed by the IDF,” he said in a statement, Reuters reports.
This comes as regional leaders are voicing acute worries about the situation that’s developed today, on top of what happened with remote attacks targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon last week, and what happens next. More details on this last point very soon.
Updated
The United States is sending additional troops to the Middle East during the sharp surge in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that has raised the risk of a greater regional war, the Pentagon said moments ago.
Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The US currently has about 40,000 troops in the region, the Associated Press writes.
The new deployments come after significant strikes by Israeli forces against targets inside Lebanon that have killed hundreds and as Israel is preparing to conduct further operations and the State Department is warning Americans to leave Lebanon as the risk of a regional war increases.
Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department had cautioned on Saturday.
Tension high amid fears Israel-Hezbollah conflict will escalate
The Israeli military is preparing for the next stage of its operation in Lebanon after launching a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets on Monday morning, the military chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi said.
Essentially, we are targeting combat infrastructure that Hezbollah has been building for the past 20 years. This is very significant. We are striking targets and preparing for the next phases,” he said in a statement, Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Halevi gave no further details, while adding that he would “elaborate shortly”.
Having hit parts of southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, Halevi said the Israeli army was now “preparing for the next phases” of its operation.
There is rising tension on the ground in Lebanon and a collective bracing to see whether Israel intends a ground invasion of its neighbour, which has not been signaled so far as the military strikes are currently from the air (subsequent to last week’s remote attacks carried out by Israel engineering to blow up hand-held pagers and walkie-talkies within Lebanon).
Updated
There are images trickling in over the international news wires of the response to Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Here is another scene:
Scenes of urgency among first responders, authorities and bystanders in souther Beirut following air strikes by Israel a little earlier.
Updated
US president Joe Biden is meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the Oval Office at the White House and mentioned briefly that he will discuss with him efforts to de-escalate the current situation in Lebanon.
Right now the situation is only escalating. Reuters also said that Biden intended to discuss with him efforts to end Israel’s war in Gaza, as well.
There should be more details later.
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, also plans to discuss efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in her separate meeting with the UAE leader.
This as the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, is alarmed by the escalating situation in Lebanon and very concerned by the large number of civilian casualties reported by Lebanese authorities, his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said moments ago.
Updated
Israeli strike on Beirut targeting Hezbollah southern front commander – reports
Israel carried out what it said was a “limited” airstrike in Dahieh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, with Israeli media reporting that the target of the strike was Ali Karaki, the number three military commander in Hezbollah.
It was the second time Beirut was struck by Israel in a week, and the latest in Lebanon’s bloodiest day since its 1975-1990 civil war. More than 270 were killed and over 1,000 injured after Israel carried out a punishing aerial assault on wide swathes of south Lebanon and the Beqaa valley.
Sirens went off to the east of Haifa immediately after the strike on Beirut.
Yesterday, funerals were held in Dahieh for Ibrahim Akil, the second-in-command of Hezbollah’s military wing, along with other senior commanders killed in a Friday airstrike on the southern suburb.
Updated
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has now joined a number of spokesmen for his government and military to warn Lebanese to “get out of harm’s way” as his forces continue to bomb Israel’s neighbor.
Netanyahu told people to move away from danger as Israel pounds Hezbollah targets in the country’s south and east today and, according to latest reports, now further north in Beirut, which is on the central coast, the Agence France-Presse reports.
“Please, get out of harm’s way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes,” Netanyahu said in a video statement shortly after the Israeli army announced it had struck 800 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The request, or warning, using the words “harm’s way” has been used earlier today by Israeli government spokesman David Mencer and Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Updated
Interim summary
Hello again, Guardian global live blog readers. It’s just after 7pm in Beirut, 4pm Greenwich Mean Time, 12pm on the United States east coast.
The latest reports emerging from Lebanon are that Israel’s aerial military operation on parts of the south and east of the country are extending now to the capital, Beirut, in the center of the country. We’ll continue to bring you the news as it emerges from the region.
Here’s where things stand:
Beirut’s southern suburbs are reportedly the latest target of Israel’s military offensive in nextdoor Lebanon. The Israeli military has just said the capital is a target, although few details are available at present.
The United States has said the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) raid and shutdown of the media network Al Jazeera’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, is “inconsistent with US support for freedom of the press in the West Bank and all over the world”. Israeli forces raided the office of Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order, the Qatari broadcaster said.
Lebanon’s health minister Firas Abiad has said that 274 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including 21 children and 31 women. More than 1,000 people have been injured, the health minister added. Abiad said Israeli airstrikes targeted “hospitals, medical centers and ambulances”. At least two ambulances were damaged and destroyed, and one member of Lebanon’s civil defence was injured by Israeli airstrikes today.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil) issued a statement on Monday afternoon expressing “grave concern” for the safety of civilians in southern Lebanon amidst the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since last October and urging the need for de-escalation from both Hezbollah and Israel.
Senior UN officials have called for the immediate end to the conflict in Gaza on the eve of the UN general assembly meeting in New York, saying in a statement: “These atrocities must end,” adding: “We urgently call for a sustained, immediate and unconditional ceasefire. This is the only way to end the suffering of civilians and save lives. All hostages and all those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Israel began airstrikes in the Beqaa valley, carrying out four airstrikes in a neighbourhood near Baalbek, east Beqaa, a Hezbollah source told The Guardian. A spokesperson for the Israeli military had told residents to evacuate the area some two hours before, warning that Israel would soon commence airstrikes against Hezbollah targets there.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, in his first statement since Israel launched a wave of deadly attacks across Lebanon, has told Israeli citizens that he had promised Israel would change the balance of power in the north, and that is what the IDF is doing. Netanyahu said the missions being carried out were aimed at destroying what he claimed were thousands of missiles and rockets aimed at Israeli cities. Netanyahu said there were complicated days ahead, and urged Israeli citizens to follow home front defence guidelines.
An Israeli military official, speaking to Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Israel was focused on aerial operations and had no immediate plans for a ground operation. They said the strikes today, which have killed at least 180 people, were aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s ability to launch more strikes into Israel. While Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-constant fire since the 7 October Hamas attack inside Israel, the two sides have generally avoided incursions across the UN-drawn blue line that separates the two countries.
Lebanon is opening schools as emergency shelters amid ‘heavy displacement’ of population caused by Israeli airstrikes. Responding to the displacement of people after Israel launched a string of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, the interior ministry has opened schools in Beirut, Tripoli and in the east and the south to act as temporary refugee shelters. Heavy traffic and chaotic scenes have been reported as people try to flee.
Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, has called Israel’s wave of airstrikes “a genocide in every sense of the word”. Mikati made the comments at the start of a cabinet meeting in Beirut on Monday in which he said that Israel’s airstrikes aim to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages, according to an update from the Associated Press news agency. Mikati said that the Lebanese government was calling on the United Nations, the UN security council and world nations to “deter the aggression”.
Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant has told the Israeli public they must “stay calm, disciplined and fully compliant with the home front command’s instructions” in the coming days as Israel expands its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, held a call to brief Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, overnight on IDF operations against Hezbollah. Gallant, whose position in Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet has recently been the subject of much speculation, said he “provided the secretary with a situation assessment of Hezbollah threats” and briefed him on “IDF operations to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to launch attacks against Israeli civilians”. Gallant added that the pair “also discussed the wider regional situation and the threats posed by Iran and its proxies”.
Updated
Israel now targeting Beirut – reports
News is coming over the international wires that the Israeli military offensive in nextdoor Lebanon is now targeting Beirut.
The Israeli military has announced this, Reuters is now reporting, and the agency cited an unnamed security source to say that the latest Israeli strikes have hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israel described the new wave of bombardment as a “targeted strike”, without so far specifying what the target was.
We’ll bring more details as soon as we get them. Tens of thousands of Lebanese are currently trying to evacuate from the south of the country.
Updated
Vice-President Kamala Harris plans to discuss efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in her meeting today with the United Arab Emirates president, according to a White House official.
Harris and US president Joe Biden are meeting separately with UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first in what are expected to be a series of foreign leader gatherings during the week of the United Nations general assembly, Reuters reports.
They give Harris an opportunity to demonstrate national security chops at a time the Democratic administration is under increasing pressure to contain strife in the Middle East.
Since she became the Democratic party’s nominee for president in this November’s US elections, Harris has spoken more forcefully than Biden about the need for a ceasefire and of the brutal toll on civilians of Israel’s war in Gaza, the Guardian adds. She has not flagged a fundamental change in US policy, such as an arms embargo on ally Israel, she has reiterated the government’s position that Israel has the right to defend itself (after the Hamas-led attack of last 7 October), but that how it does so is crucial.
Updated
The Israeli military has said it struck about 800 targets connected to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon and the area of the Bekaa valley on Monday.
“Among the targets struck were buildings where Hezbollah hid rockets, missiles, launchers, UAVs and additional terrorist infrastructure,” the military said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Updated
IDF shutdown of Al Jazeera bureau in West Bank 'inconsistent with US support for freedom of the press', US state department says
The United States has said the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) raid and shutdown of the media network Al Jazeera’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, is “inconsistent with US support for freedom of the press in the West Bank and all over the world”.
The state department spokesperson said the US was still gathering information about the IDF operation on Sunday.
Israeli forces raided the office of Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order, the Qatari broadcaster said, with footage showing heavily armed and masked troops entering the premises in Ramallah.
“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment,” the soldier said.
Al-Omari reported that Israeli troops brought a truck to confiscate documents, devices and office property.
The broadcaster said the soldiers did not provide a reason for the closure order.
Al Jazeera denounced the raid as “a criminal act” and said in a statement it held the Israeli government responsible for the safety of its journalists.
Updated
Sources quoted by Israeli media have said Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to force Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza and put Hamas militants who remain in the area under siege in order to force the release of hostages, Lorenzo Tondo reports from Jerusalem.
The plan, published by retired military commanders and floated by some parliament members this month, calls for the area to be declared “a closed military zone” after civilians have been told to leave.
The Israeli national broadcaster, Kan, quoted the Israeli prime minister as saying the blueprint “makes sense” and that it was “one of the plans being considered”. An Israeli official quoted by CNN confirmed the veracity of the quote, but said: “Seeing it positively does not mean adopting it.”
According to the UN, between 300,000 and 500,000 Palestinians, most of them displaced, are living in the northern part of Gaza.
Updated
Death toll following Israeli strikes on Lebanon rises to 274, health minister says
Lebanon’s health minister Firas Abiad has said that 274 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including 21 children and 31 women. More than 1,000 people have been injured, the health minister added.
Abiad said Israeli airstrikes targeted “hospitals, medical centers and ambulances.” At least two ambulances were damaged and destroyed, and one member of Lebanon’s civil defence was injured by Israeli airstrikes today.
These figures come on top of the dozens killed and thousands injured last week when pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated inside Lebanon in what is widely attributed to have been an Israeli attack attempting to target Hezbollah operatives.
Updated
UN in Lebanon warns attacks on civilians could amount to war crimes
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil) issued a statement on Monday afternoon expressing “grave concern for the safety of civilians in southern Lebanon amidst the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since last October and urging the need for de-escalation from both Hezbollah and Israel.
“Any further escalation of this dangerous situation could have far-reaching and devastating consequences, not only for those living on both sides of the Blue line, but also for the broader region,” the statement read. Unifil also added that “attacks on civilians are not only violations of international law, but may amount to war crimes” in unusually stern wording for the peacekeeping body.
The UN statement came after Israel carried out its most intense aerial bombardment of Lebanon yet, striking what the Israeli military said were over 300 targets in south Lebanon and the Bekaa. Over 180 have been killed and over 700 wounded in Lebanon and a new wave of displacement heading northwards was triggered by the Israeli barrage.
Warning sirens have sounded in the northern part of the occupied West Bank amid reports of a new Hezbollah rocket attack.
Alarms were also sounded in areas across northern Israel, the military said.
Senior UN officials call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Senior UN officials have called for the immediate end to the conflict in Gaza on the eve of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, saying in a statement: “These atrocities must end.”
“We urgently call for a sustained, immediate and unconditional ceasefire. This is the only way to end the suffering of civilians and save lives,” reads the statement. “All hostages and all those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
The statement calls for humanitarian agencies to have safe and unimpeded access and says ongoing violence is preventing aid from reaching its destination.
It is estimated that a quarter of the injured in Gaza, or around 22,500 people, will require lifelong specialized rehabilitation and assistive care including individuals with severe limb injuries, amputations, spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, and major burns.
More than 2 million Palestinians are without protection, food, water, sanitation, shelter, health care, education, electricity and fuel – the basic necessities to survive. Families have been forcibly displaced, time and time again, from one unsafe place to the next, with no way out.
Women and girls’ dignity, safety, health and rights have been severely compromised.
The statement warns of the risk of famine and the dangers to health and criticises “unnecessary and disproportionate force unleashed in the West Bank, combined with escalating settler violence, house demolitions, forced displacement and discriminatory movement restrictions.”
It also makes clear that close to 100 hostages remain in Gaza and says “freed hostages have reported ill treatment, including sexual violence.”
The parties’ conduct over the last year makes a mockery of their claim to adhere to international humanitarian law and the minimum standards of humanity that it demands.
Civilians must be protected and their essential needs must be met. There must be accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The statement calls on world leaders “to wield their influence to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice – through diplomatic pressure and cooperation in ending impunity.
Let us be clear: The protection of civilians is a bedrock principle for the global community and in all countries’ interest. Allowing the abhorrent, downward spiral caused by this war in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to continue will have unimaginable, global consequences.
Israel begins strikes in Beqaa valley
Israel has begun airstrikes in the Beqaa valley, carrying out four airstrikes in a neighbourhood near Baalbek, east Beqaa, a Hezbollah source told The Guardian. A spokesperson for the Israeli military had told residents to evacuate the area some two hours before, warning that Israel would soon commence airstrikes against Hezbollah targets there.
Israel’s air force has provided an operation update on rocket fire aimed at Israel and Israeli-occupied territory in the last hour. It said:
Following the alerts that were activated at 16:15 in the Carmel area, about five launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted several launches, crashes were detected.
Following the warnings that were activated at 16:15 in the area of the Upper Galilee, the valleys and the gulf, about five launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted several launches, crashes were detected in an open area.
Following the alerts that were activated at 16:24 in the area of the central Galilee and the lower Galilee, about 25 launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted several launches, crashes were detected in an open area.
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בשעה 16:15 במרחב הכרמל, זוהו כחמישה שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו בהצלחה מספר שיגורים, זוהו נפילות.
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) September 23, 2024
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בשעה 16:15 במרחב הגליל העליון, העמקים והמפרץ זוהו כחמישה שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו…
Firefighters have been working in northern Israel to contain a fire after a rocket hit an open area near Kahal.
William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian
Two ambulances belonging to an Islamic health service were damaged by Israeli airstrikes, Ali Abbas, an official within the health service told the Guardian.
One ambulance was blown up by an airstrike in the town of Haris, south Lebanon, while another in the town of Ain Aata had its windshield broken by an airstrike in front of it, Abbas said. No one was injured in the strike, though some paramedics have been injured by airstrikes as part of the widespread Israeli bombing campaign in south Lebanon.
We are beginning to get images sent over the news wires of people in Lebanon in heavy traffic as they attempt to flee the areas of southern and eastern Lebanon being targeted by Israel in a series of airstrikes that have left over 180 people dead with more than 700 wounded.
Netanyahu: we are changing the balance of power in the north with Lebanon strikes
Israel’s prime minister, in his first statement since Israel launched a wave of attacks across Lebanon which have left at least 180 people dead, has told the Israeli citizens that he had promised Israel would change the balance of power in the north, and that is what the IDF is doing.
Benjamin Netanyahu said the missions being carried out were aimed at destroying what he claimed were thousands of missiles and rockets aimed at Israeli cities. Netanyahu said there were complicated days ahead, and urged Israeli citizens to follow home front defence guidelines.
In recent weeks Israel explicitly added to its war goal returning displaced people from northern Israel back to their home. About 60,000 Israelis have been forced to flee homes in northern Israel because of sustained exchanges of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah.
Earlier Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said “Israel will do whatever it takes through diplomacy – or through military means – to secure our northern border. It is what any other country would do.”
The IDF military spokesperson Daniel Hagari warned resident of eastern Lebanon to evacuate if they were near areas storing Hezbollah weapons. Lebanon’s interior ministry is setting aside schools as temporary shelters for displaced people.
Israeli military source: no immediate plans for a ground operation in Lebanon
An Israeli military official, speaking to Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Israel is focused on aerial operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. They said the strikes today, which have killed at least 180 people, are aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s ability to launch more strikes into Israel.
While Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near constant fire since the 7 October Hamas attack inside Israel, the two sides have generally avoided incursions across the UN-drawn blue line that separates the two countries.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer has claimed that in launching a wide-ranging assault on Lebanon against what it deems to be Hezbollah targets, Israel is “doing precisely what any other country would do.”
Mencer said Hezbollah’s military actions firing into Israel had displaced over 60,000 Israelis from their homes, “becoming refugees here in our own homeland.”
Mencer claimed that Hezbollah had not stopped attacking Israel “not for a single day” since 8 October, the day after the Hamas attack in southern Israel. “No country can accept the wanton rocketing of its cities,” he said.
Lebanon’s health ministry has said that over 180 have been killed and more than 700 wounded in today’s Israeli airstrikes on the country. The IDF claims to have struck more than 300 targets. The interior ministry in Lebanon has said it is opening up school in Beirut and Tripoli to act as temporary shelters for displaced people.
Citing UN resolutions 1559 and 1701 which called for peace and the disarming of militias in Lebanon, and saying they have never been implemented, Mencer said “Hezbollah needs to move behind the Litani River and our northern border needs to be secured, which is precisely what is happening right now”. Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, described a recent UN vote for Israel to end its decades-long occupation of the West Bank as “a shameful decision”.
Mencer went on to say, in reply to a question from the Breitbart website asking whether “the third Lebanon war had started”, that:
We will always prefer a peaceful settlement through negotiations, but that has not borne fruit in 11-and-a-half months now. So Israel will do whatever it takes through diplomacy – or through military means – to secure our northern border. It’s what any other country would do.
Answering a later question he added “Let me caveat that – no other country would wait for 11-and-a-half months, 11-and-a-half-months, to deal with this sort of aggression against our people”. He purposefully said the length of time twice to emphasise it.
Mencer also made a direct reference to Iran backing Hezbollah, telling the media:
Iran, of course, is behind Hezbollah. We know that any country which Iran gets involved in becomes a failed state. Lebanon is just such an example. Because of Iran’s meddling through their local proxy, Hezbollah, the country has become a failed state. We believe that the majority of Lebanese people are against Hezbollah. Hezbollah needs to be ejected from your politics, from your country, Lebanon. And peace needs to be restored to our northern border.
Death toll from Israeli strikes in Lebanon rises to 182 killed, with 727 injured, including women and children
At least 182 people were killed and 727 were wounded, including women, children and medics, in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Monday, Reuters reports, citing the country’s health ministry.
These figures come on top of the dozens killed and thousands injured last week when pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated inside Lebanon in what is widely attributed to have been an Israeli attack attempting to target Hezbollah operatives.
Updated
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer is giving an English-language briefing. He has begun by listing some specific damages he claims were caused inside Israel and Israeli-controlled territory by Hezbollah rockets over the last few days and said that as Israel’s prime minister and defense minister have made clear “Israel’s patience is not inexhaustible”.
He outlined a number of measures he said Israel had taken “to get civilians out of harm’s way in Lebanon”, and, echoing comments from the IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, said:
Hezbollah endangers the people of Lebanon. They use civilian civilians as human shields to hide its weaponry and carry out attacks against Israel from within that country. Israel could not be clearer to Lebanese civilians [that] if you live next to properties or homes in which Hezbollah is hiding its rocket launchers and weaponry you should evacuate immediately.
Mencer is taking questions from the international media in English. I will bring you any key lines that emerge.
Israel has claimed the attacks mounted in Lebanon today have been “extensive, proactive airstrikes, based on precise intelligence, aimed at degrading the capabilities and infrastructure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.”
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said “This is infrastructure that Hezbollah has built over many years. So far, since this morning, more than three hundred terrorist targets across Lebanon have been struck.”
Lebanon’s health ministry has said that at least 100 people have been killed and 400 people wounded, including women, children and medics.
Hagari told Israelis that “We are continuing to conduct a situational assessment regarding the home front, and at this stage, there is no change to the defensive guidelines. However, it is important to remain vigilant and alert.”
Hezbollah earlier today claimed a barrage of rockets fired into Israel were in response to the strikes on eastern Lebanon.
Hageri continued:
We are continuing to monitor Hezbollah’s preparations in the field in order to proactively thwart attacks against Israeli territory, and we are systematically broadening our strikes against Hezbollah. We are preparing to strike terrorist targets in the Beqaa valley region soon. Hezbollah stores strategic weapons in civilian buildings, knowingly using the population as human shields and endangering them. I urge the Lebanese residents of the villages in the Beqaa valley who are inside or near houses where rockets and weapons are stored, to move away immediately.
Lebanon to open schools as emergency shelters amid 'heavy displacement' of population caused by Israeli airstrikes
Responding to the displacement of people after Israel launched a string of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon leading to at least 100 deaths and hundreds more being injured, Lebanon’s interior ministry has opened schools in Beirut, Tripoli and in the east and the south to act as temporary refugee shelters. Heavy traffic and chaotic scenes have been reported as people try to flee.
Thousands of people have already been displaced from their homes in southern Lebanon and northern Israel after months of fire being exchanged by Israel and Hezbollah since the 7 October attack last year.
Israel’s army radio reports that the IDF have published an Arabic language map identifying the area in Lebanon it is attacking, and ordering Lebanese citizens to evacuate their homes.
דובר צה"ל בערבית מפרסם את מפת אזור בקעת הלבנון שתושביו הוזהרו: "אם אתה נמצא בבית המכיל נשק עבור חיזבאללה, עליך לעזוב אותו ולהתרחק ממנו תוך שעתיים - לא פחות מקילומטר מחוץ לכפר או בביה"ס המרכזי הקרוב"@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/MQsEPvaqyQ
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 23, 2024
Israel’s Channel 12 has spoken to Israeli Dudi Yitzhaki, who lives in the community settlement of Givat Avni in Galilee. He told the network he and his family were “30 seconds and three centimetres” from death after their home was struck by a Hezbollah rocket.
He said “I was in the middle of a work phone call outside when the siren started. I entered the house and went in the reinforced room. It was a matter of 30 seconds and then we heard an unbelievable explosion. I immediately realised it had hit the house.”
פגיעה ישירה בתוך בית בגבעת אבני. אין נפגעים.@guyvaron pic.twitter.com/R5Rb6v6ixC
— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) September 23, 2024
Earlier the IDF said it had repelled the majority of a barrage of approximately 35 projectiles fired towards Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah, in a statement, claimed responsibility for the barrage, and said it was in response to Israeli strikes inside Lebanon.
Here is the quote, via Reuters and in translation, from IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who said “The sights now from south Lebanon are of secondary explosions of Hezbollah weapons, which are exploding inside houses. In every house we are attacking there are weapons. Rockets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles that were meant for and aimed at killing Israeli civilians.”
According to breaking news lines from the Reuters news agency, Israeli military spokesperson Rr Adm Daniel Hagari, in a Hebrew-language briefing, has claimed that houses struck by the IDF in Bekaa in Lebanon contained missiles and drones. He claimed Israel had only targeted houses that contained Hezbollah weapons, and that Israel intends to continue striking at strategic weapon stores. He said civilians in the Bekaa valley area should evacuate.
Lebanon’s health ministry has said at least 100 people have been killed and 400 wounded by Israeli strikes today in Lebanon, including women, children and medics. This adds to the dozens killed and thousands injured last week in Lebanon when pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated, in an attack widely attributed to an Israeli attempt to target Hezbollah operatives.
More details soon …
At least 41,455 Palestinians have been killed and 95,878 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said in its latest daily update.
Residents from south Lebanon flee north following Israeli barrage
William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian
Residents of south Lebanon have begun fleeing north in a renewed wave of displacement as Israeli warplanes pound wide-swathes of the country’s south.
The Israeli aerial assault is the most intense yet, killing over 100 people and wounding over 400 more, including women, children and paramedics, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Monday.
Roads leading out of south Lebanon were choked with traffic as people fled the Israeli bombing. Areas that have served as safe zones for the displaced since last year have now found themselves within the crosshairs of the Israeli military.
“The airstrikes have reached us, on the outskirts of [Tyre]. There was a strike just 100 meters behind the [displacement] center, there were three of them,” Bilal Kashmar, a coordinator in a displacement center in the southern city of Tyre, said. He showed a video of a plume of smoke rising just across the street from the shelter which houses hundreds of families.
“The displaced have stopped coming to us, those that want to flee are leaving the south entirely,” Kashmar said.
Tyre has hosted thousands of individuals displaced by fighting, as the city has largely been spared by airstrikes until now. Prior to Monday’s fighting, a little over 110,000 were displaced from south Lebanon.
“The airstrikes aren’t stopping. People are scared,” Hassan Dabouk, the head of the Tyre Union of Municipalities, said.
Videos of collapsed buildings, bombs falling from the sky and resulting explosions that shook camera-people’s hands circulated on social media as people tried to track the extent of Israel’s bombing campaign. In one video, a driver films as smoke fills the air on the road ahead following a strike. “Stop, stop, stop!” One of the passengers yell as the video cuts.
“An important thing to note is that the roads are not safe. There is bombing from where we are [in Tyre] all the way to Saida. One needs to think before they leave in this situation,” Dabouk said.
Those who have loved ones in the south made public appeals for any empty apartments or rooms that might host their family members who fled Israeli airstrikes. Spontaneous initiatives to provide housing emerged, with individuals marshaling calls for available rooms and hostels offering discounted rates for displaced people.
“We are collecting numbers right now from people that have connections in safe areas, in Druze and Christian areas”, Faten Jebai, a journalist from south Lebanon, said. Jebai has urged those without a place to reach out to her, as she and other volunteers work to connect displaced those who will open up their homes or rent at low prices.
“More than 80 members of my family are now leaving the south, so I am searching for them but also for my friends and friends of the family,” Jebai added.
Israeli airstrikes are 'a genocide in every sense of the word' says Lebanon caretaker prime minister
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has called Israel’s wave of airstrikes “a genocide in every sense of the word.”
Najib Mikati made the comments at the start of a cabinet meeting in Beirut on Monday in which he said that Israel’s airstrikes aim to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages, according to an update from the Associated Press news agency.
Mikati said that the Lebanese government is calling on the United Nations, the UN Security Council and world nations to “deter the aggression.”
Women, children and paramedics among more than 100 killed and 400 wounded by Israeli strikes on Lebanon, health ministry says
More than 100 people have been killed and 400 wounded, “including women, children and paramedics”, from ongoing Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon today, the country’s health ministry said. This is the single highest daily death toll since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah started in October.
Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wires showing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. Israel has claimed to have struck at 300 Hezbollah targets. The Lebanese health ministry has reported at least 50 people dead and 300 wounded. That figure comes on top of the dozens of people killed and thousands wounded last week in Lebanon after pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated, in an attack widely attributed as an Israeli operation to target Hezbollah.
At least 50 killed and 300 wounded by Israeli strikes on Lebanon – health ministry
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 50 people were killed and more than 300 wounded, including children, women and medics, in Israeli strikes on Monday that targeted southern Lebanon.
State media reported that in a statement the ministry said “the continued Israeli enemy raids on the southern towns and villages led, in a preliminary toll, to the martyrdom of 50 people and the injury of more than 300, and among the martyrs and wounded were children, women and paramedics.”
Earlier Israel’s military had claimed it had targeted at least 300 Hezbollah locations inside Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed to have fired rockets at Israeli military bases in northern Israel “in response to the Israeli enemy attacks that targeted the south and Bekaa areas”. The IDF said its defense array had incercepted many of at least 35 projectiles it identified coming from Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry has asked all hospitals in the south and east of the country to “stop all non-essential surgery in order to make space to treat the wounded due to the expanding Israeli aggression”.
There were reports of heavy traffic as residents fled the south and educational establishments were closed. Israel appeared to have sent about 60,000 automated phone calls and text messages to citizens in Lebanon ordering them to flee their homes.
Israel’s attack had been forewarned overnight, with Israel’s military announcing it was planning to step up operations. A statement by the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson had urged Lebanese people to flee their homes in advance of the wave of strikes, and a reported 60,000 automated phone calls were made to residents in Lebanon, telling them to evacuate.
“We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes,” Israel’s defense secretary Yoav Gallant said in a video published by his office on Monday. “These are days in which the Israeli public will have to show composure.”
Israel’s military appears to have confirmed the Hezbollah claim to have launched rockets at Israel.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the IDF said “approximately 25 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory” in the areas of Ami’ad and Safed, adding that “approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon” into the lower Galilee area.
It added “The IDF aerial defense array successfully intercepted a number of projectiles. Numerous falls were identified in open areas.”
There is no report of any casualties.
Hezbollah said on Monday it had launched dozens of rockets from Lebanon aimed at several Israeli military posts, Reuters reports.
More details soon …
Lebanon's health ministry calls halt to non-essential surgery in anticipation of airstrike casualties
Anticipating casualties, Al Jazeera, citing state media, reports that Lebanon’s health ministry has asked all hospitals in the south and east of the country to “stop all non-essential surgery in order to make space to treat the wounded due to the expanding Israeli aggression on Lebanon.”
More details soon …
Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported there is heavy traffic in the roads of Sidon in Lebanon after schools and colleges shortened their hours and asked parents to take children home, combined with an influx of traffic into the southern entrance to the city “due to the displacement of residents from a number of southern villages and towns that are being targeted by hostile Israeli forces.”
Zeina Khodr, reporting for Al Jazeera from Tyre in Lebanon, says there is “a lot of chaos here and worry that there will be more airstrikes. We can clearly see the conflict becoming more intense and moving beyond the border.”
She says “The feeling here is that the Israeli military wants to drive people out of southern Lebanon.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have banned Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel.
Reuters has spoken to a resident of Beirut’s Manara area who said her family were “freaking out” after receiving one of the Israeli automated phone calls ordering Lebanese citizens to evacuate their homes.
“So they were freaking out, I am freaking out as well because we thought somehow the area we live in is safe because we’re surrounded by ambassadors,” they said. “The Saudi embassy is very close, like two minutes walking distance from us, but apparently they are targeting everyone now. It was a long 30-40 second message.”
Israel claims to have struck 300 Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon
Israel’s military has said it has struck 300 Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon since this morning. Lebanese media has reported airstrikes on multiple locations, with wounded being transported to hospitals. At least one person is known to have been killed.
The attack had been forewarned overnight, with Israel’s military announcing it was planning to step up operations. A statement by the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson had urged Lebanese people to flee their homes in advance of the wave of strikes, and a reported 60,000 automated phone calls were made to residents in Lebanon, telling them to evacuate.
Unverified videos posted to social media have shown multiple large explosions and chaotic scenes. Arabic news sources have described Israel “carpet bombing” areas of Lebanon in a “relentless” series of attacks.
Alongside the update, the IDF published an image of its chief of staff approving the wave of airstrikes from the military’s underground command room in Tel Aviv.
The Chief of the General Staff approves strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon from the IDF Headquarters Underground Operations Center. So far, more than 300 Hezbollah targets have been struck today. pic.twitter.com/hbNKWJ8QAs
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 23, 2024
“We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes,” Israel’s defense secretary Yoav Gallant said in a video published by his office on Monday. “These are days in which the Israeli public will have to show composure.”
Reuters reports the Unifil peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon told the news agency it had “seen an intensification of bombardments throughout the area of operations, close to the Blue Line,” referring to the line separating the two countries.
Lebanon telecoms chief says it will stop automated Israeli calls telling resident to evacuate
William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian
About 60,000 calls were made across all of Lebanon which played a pre-recorded message instructing people to evacuate their homes, Imad Kreidieh, the chairman of Ogero, which operates Lebanon’s telecommunications infrastructure, said.
“What the Israelis are doing is sending a bunch of automated voice recordings through international carriers, the system doesn’t recognise them as Israeli calls, most of them are generated as calls coming from a friendly country”, Kreidieh told the Guardian. He added that it was an “old technique” also used by Israel during its July 2006 war with Hezbollah.
Ogero has “located the source of the calls and will stop it,” Kreidieh said.
Lebanon’s minister of information Ziad Makari earlier said in a statement on Monday morning that work in the ministry is “continuous and normal” after he received one of the calls. “The method is not strange to the Israeli enemy, which uses all means in its psychological warfare. We call to not lend the matter more [attention] than it deserves,” Makari said.
Lebanon’s minister of culture also reported receiving a call from someone speaking “classical Arabic in a strange accent” warning that he should leave his office immediately as he could be a target.
Hamas’ armed wing said on Monday its fighters managed to lure a convoy of Israeli vehicles into “a well-prepared ambush” on the supply line of the Israeli forces east of Rafah, and attacked them with anti-tank rockets and already-planted explosive devices, Reuters reports. The claims have not been independently verified. The news agency reports there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
At least ten people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Reuters reports, citing local health officials.
A statement from officials in Hamas-led Gaza being carried by Palestinian news sources says:
The occupation army committed two massacres after bombing Khalid bin al-Walid schools in Nuseirat and Kafr Qasim schools in al-Shati camp. Ten martyrs were killed, including five children and women. The number of shelters bombed by the occupation since the beginning of the war has reached 183, including 163 schools where thousands of displaced people live. We call on the international community to take action to stop the genocidal war.
Israel’s military has claimed that in Nuseirat it targeted a Hamas command centre it says was embedded inside a compound that previously served as a school.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
While Israel carries out multiple airstrikes across Lebanon, “the suffering is immense” for Palestinians in Gaza, writes Tareq Abu Azzoum for Al Jazeera.
He reports from Deir al-Balah:
The Israeli army campaign has left Gaza’s civil infrastructure destroyed and land that can’t withstand extreme weather conditions, especially with winter around the corner. The displaced families here have been going through one of the worst humanitarian conditions and now rainwater is entering their makeshift tents. They have been forced to take shelter close to Gaza’s beaches.
Israel has banned Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel, and recently raided and shut down the news agency’s offices in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel’s military reports on its Telegram channel that recent warning sirens in northern Israel were “determined to be a false identification due to IDF strikes in southern Lebanon.”
Palestinian news sources have described Israel “carpet bombing” areas of Lebanon in “relentless” airstrikes. Casualties are reported. Videos being shared on social media purport to show large explosions and chaotic scenes. Lebanon’s state National News Agency has reported attacks on multiple locations. It reports that at least 13 people have been injured. Al Mayadeen reports that at least 26 people have been taken to hospital in Tebnin in the south of the country.
More details soon …
Lebanon’s information minister Ziad Makary has said to Reuters that receiving a telephone call ordering the ministry to be evacuated was “a psychological war”. He said people would not be following the instruction.
Lebanon’s national news agency NNA is reporting Israeli airstrikes in the in Zahrani region, and that three people have been injured by an Israeli strike on Ainata, which is in the north of the country.
Multiple Palestinian and Arabic news sources have published pictures and video to social media purporting to show a wave of Israeli strikes.
More details soon …
Israel's military says it is currently conducting strikes on southern Lebanon
Israel’s military has announced on its official Telegram channel that “The IDF is currently conducting strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon.”
William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian
Citizens in Lebanon’s capital city Beirut and other areas of the country have received text messages asking them to immediately evacuate their residences.
Lebanon’s Minister of Information, Ziad Makari, said that he received a call in which he was asked to evacuate the building, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Monday morning
The calls comes as Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, claimed that Hezbollah has hidden missiles and other weaponry across south Lebanon, and urged citizens to leave their homes if they lived near Hezbollah members or infrastructure.
“Very soon, we will attack terrorist targets in Lebanon to stop these threats. I call for Lebanese citizens that live in homes or near homes that Hezbollah hides weapons in to evacuate them immediately,” Adraee said in a video message on Monday morning.
In Beirut, drones could be heard flying low over the city.
Updated
Al Jazeera reports from Gaza that “many Palestinians, including children” have been wounded in an Israeli drone attack east of Khan Younis.
The news network has been banned from operating in Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and yesterday Israeli security forces raided and shut down the Al Jazeera bureau in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Ramallah.
More details soon …
Defense minister Gallant tells Israeli public to 'stay calm and disciplined' in coming days
Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant has told the Israeli public they must “stay calm, disciplined and fully compliant with the home front command’s instructions” in the coming days as Israel expands its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Haaretz reports that Israel’s home front command issued emergency guidelines on Sunday for residents of the Jezreel Valley and northern regions which included shutting educational establoshments, closing beaches, and limiting public gatherings. Workplaces can stay in operation if they have designated protection areas.
Israel’s military has warned residents of southern Lebanon to flee prior to imminent airstrikes which Israel claims are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israel tells residents of southern Lebanese villages to evacuate before imminent airstrikes
Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has posted a video warning residents of villages in southern Lebanon that they should evacuate before imminent airstrikes from Israel’s military.
In the message, Adraee said people should leave homes where weapons are hidden, saying that Hezbollah “is lying to you and sacrificing you” and that “missiles and drones are more valuable and important to [Hezbollah] than you.”
#عاجل ‼️ سكان القرى اللبنانية: الغارات ستبدأ على المدى الزمني الوشيك - اخلوا البيوت التي اخبئ فيها #حزب_الله الأسلحة فورًا! حزب الله يكذب عليكم ويضحي فيكم. حزب الله يقول إنكم بيئته وأنكم جمهوره لكن يبدو أن صواريخه ومسيراته أغلى وأهم بالنسبة له منكم. pic.twitter.com/mzw3oEjB9y
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 23, 2024
There have also been reports, via Reuters, that some residents have been receiving calls, purporting to be from a Lebanese number, warning them to move further than 1km away from Hezbollah infrastructure.
Earlier Israeli military spokesperson Rr Adm Daniel Hagari said the IDF would be conducting “extensive, precise strikes, against terror targets which have been embedded widely throughout Lebanon.”
He added “We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move out of harm’s way for their own safety.”
The IDF has reported on its official Telegram channel that an attempted stabbing attack by a contractor at Israel’s Lachish base near Beit Guvrin has been prevented. One person was shot, and no soldiers were injured, it said.
More details soon …
Reuters reports that some residents in southern Lebanon have been receiving calls from what appears to be a Lebanese number warning them to move at least 1,000 metres from any Hezbollah position.
More details soon …
Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wires from Lebanon, where smoke can be seen billowing across the sky after strikes by Israel. Lebanon’s state news agency has reported one person dead and six wounded as a result of the action which Israel claims is striking at Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israel's defense minister holds call to brief Lloyd Austin on IDF operations against Hezbollah
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant has posted to social media to say that overnight he spoke with US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin.
Gallant, whose position in Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet has recently been the subject of much speculation, said he “provided the secretary with a situation assessment of Hezbollah threats” and briefed him on “IDF operations to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to launch attacks against Israeli civilians.”
Gallant added that the pair “also discussed the wider regional situation and the threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”
The US has held the position that it was not briefed in advance on the detail of the suspected Israeli sabotage attack last week which blew up pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, killing dozens and injuring thousands of people.
While Israel has not commented on whether it carried out the attacks, in a video posted overnight Gallant said the past week had been “the most painful of Hezbollah’s existence” citing what he described as the “significant, precise and successful operations” of the IDF.
Netanyahu’s defense minister said Israel’s goal was to return people to their homes in northern Israel. Thousands of people in northern Israel and southern Lebanon have been forced to evacuate due to the near constant exchanges of fire between Israel and anti-Israeli forces in the area since 7 October.
One killed, six wounded in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon – reports
Lebanon’s state-owned national news agency has reported that Israel launched airstrikes against multiple locations in southern Lebanon, and that at least one person has been killed and six have been wounded. It reports that among those hit a shepherd was killed, and two of his family were wounded, and that four people were transferred to hospital.
In the last few minutes the IDF has said on its official Telegram channel that warning sirens in the western Galilee area had been a false identification of hostile aircraft.
Israeli ground incursion of Lebanon possible, IDF suggests
The Israeli military has suggested a ground incursion in Lebanon may be needed to secure its war goals as it conducted another round of extensive strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Reuters reports Monday’s strikes constituted the most geographically widespread bombing that Israel has simultaneously carried out since its conflict with the Iran-backed movement a year ago in parallel with the war on Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel began striking Hezbollah posts in Lebanon after identifying an intention to fire on Israel. Asked by reporters about a possible Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon, Hagari said “we will do whatever is needed” in order to return evacuated residents of northern Israel to their homes safely – a war priority for the Israeli government.
Israeli warplanes carried out an intense wave of airstrikes on towns along Lebanon’s southern border and even further north on Monday morning, according to Reuters witnesses.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider Middle East crisis.
The Israeli military said on Monday it was conducting extensive strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and urged villagers near areas used by the militant group in the country’s south to evacuate.
The strikes come amid some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire in nearly a year of conflict.
The chief Israeli military spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said on Monday the Israel Defense Forces had begun “striking terrorist targets throughout Lebanon” after “indications that Hezbollah was preparing to fire towards Israeli territory”.
Hagari said in a video posted on X: “We advise civilians in Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes – such as those used to store weapons – to immediately move out of harm’s way for their own safety.”
Monday’s strikes came a day after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah sent rockets deep into northern Israeli territory. The militant group fired more than 100 rockets early on Sunday across a deep and wide area of northern Israel, some landing near the city of Haifa. The barrage came after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed at least 45 people, including one of Hezbollah’s top leaders.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said at the funeral of one of the group’s commanders killed: “We have entered a new phase, the title of which is the open-ended battle of reckoning.”
The exchanges of fire prompted the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to warn of the risk “of transforming Lebanon [into] another Gaza”.
In other developments:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it had in recent days dealt Hezbollah “a series of blows it could not have imagined”. The Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said operations would continue until it was safe for evacuated people on the northern Israeli side of the border to return. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said Israel did not want a war with Lebanon but that it had a right to self-defence. Israel’s civil defence agency, meanwhile, ordered all schools in the country’s north to close.
Israel’s chief of the general staff, Herzi Halevi, said the military was well prepared for the next stages of fighting, which were coming in the next few days. “We will do whatever it takes to removes threats against Israel,” he said in a televised statement.
Israeli forces raided the office of global news channel Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order. The Israeli military said it closed the Al Jazeera TV office in Ramallah because it incited “terror”, an accusation the network vehemently denies.
At least 41,431 Palestinian people have been killed and 95,818 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least seven people in the Kafr Qasem school in Beach camp – which was sheltering displaced families – in Gaza City on Sunday, Palestinian health officials said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said 12 people had been arrested for being operatives collaborating with Israel and planning acts against Iran’s security. The arrests were in six different Iranian provinces, it said.
Israel is examining a plan to use siege tactics against Hamas in northern Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by several Israeli media outlets as saying. The prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The reports on Sunday cited unnamed sources at a closed parliament committee meeting.
Updated
