Israel warns Hezbollah its army ‘is at full readiness’ – as hundreds killed in airstrikes

World

At least 274 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon – including 21 children – according to the country’s health minister.

Israel attacked hundreds of Hezbollah targets on Monday in Lebanon‘s deadliest day since 7 October, with 39 women also reported killed and 1,024 people wounded.

After Hezbollah was rocked by pager and radio explosions last week, which security sources believe were detonated by Israel, the Israeli military warned people to evacuate areas where it claims the militant group is storing weapons.

Middle East latest as huge queues form in Lebanese city

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country faced “complicated days” as it stepped up attacks against Hezbollah, which has also been firing rockets into Israel and caused the evacuation of more than 60,000 people, Israelis say.

“I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of power in the north – that is exactly what we are doing,” Mr Netanyahu said, with Israel’s military announcing it is also targeting the capital Beirut.

Earlier, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said the actions would continue until “we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes” – as Hezbollah vowed to fight on until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

People carrying their belongings walk north from Lebanon's southern coastal city Sidon as they flee Israeli bombardment, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Lebanon September 23, 2024 REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Image:
People walking from Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon as they flee Israeli bombardment. Pic: Reuters

The Israeli military said it has struck around 800 targets connected to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon and the area of the Bekaa valley.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has called Israel’s barrage of airstrikes a “genocide in every sense of the word”.

Scene in Siden, sent by Alex Craford
Image:
The scene in Sidon, a city in southern Lebanon

Najib Mikati was talking in a cabinet meeting in Beirut, adding that Israel’s airstrikes aimed to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages.

There are already 160,000 displaced Lebanese who’ve fled the south during nearly a year of cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, with authorities reporting “heavy displacement” on Monday.

Read more:
Real fear for millions in Lebanon
Israeli forces shut down Al Jazeera office

Imad Kreidieh, the head of Lebanese telecoms company Ogero, told Reuters on Monday more than 80,000 automated calls asking people to evacuate their areas were detected on the network.

The fighting has raised fears the US, Israel’s close ally, and Iran will be sucked into a wider Middle East war.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying “traps” to lead his country into a wider conflict.

Articles You May Like

No misconduct by Coleen Rooney’s lawyers in ‘Wagatha Christie’ case, says judge
U.S. crude oil jumps 2%, trades near $76 as market waits for Israel strike against Iran
Whitney Houston’s mother dies
Former Met officer Carrick charged with two rapes and six other sex offences
Discovery of MicroRNA Wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology for Gene Regulation Breakthrough