Israeli strikes kill 492 in Lebanon’s deadliest day of conflict since 2006 – The Denver Post

By BASSAM HATOUM, MELANIE LIDMAN and BASSEM MROUE

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese officials said Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Monday killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, the deadliest attack since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The Israeli military warned residents of southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of the expanded airstrike Hezbollah.

As thousands of Lebanese migrate south, the main highway from the southern port city of Saida has been clogged with vehicles heading towards Beirut, marking the biggest wave of migration since 2006.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, were killed and 1,645 injured in the attacks, a horrific single-day loss for Lebanon. a country still shaken from deadly attack on communications devices last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Lebanese civilians to heed Israel’s calls to evacuate, saying: “Take this warning seriously.”

“Please get out of danger’s way now,” Netanyahu said. “When our operation is over, you can return home safely.”

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the army would do “everything necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Hagari claimed that widespread airstrikes on Monday had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, but gave no timetable for the ongoing operation and said Israel was ready to intervene by land in Lebanon if needed.

“We are not looking for war. We are trying to eliminate threats,” he said. “We will do whatever it takes to accomplish that mission.”

Hagari said Hezbollah has launched around 9,000 rockets and drones at Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.

The military said Israeli warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones. The spokesman showed photos of the weapons, many of which he said were hidden in residential areas and private homes.

“Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone,” he said at a press conference.

Israel estimates that Hezbollah has about 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles that can hit anywhere in Israel.

Earlier on Monday evening, the Israeli military said it had carried out a targeted attack in Beirut. It did not provide details. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that three missiles hit the Beir al-Abed district of southern Beirut. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said six people were injured.

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said earlier attacks had hit hospitals, medical centres and ambulances. The government had ordered the closure of schools and universities in most of the country and begun preparing shelters for displaced people.

Some attacks hit residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley, with one hitting a forested area as far away as Byblos, more than 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the border north of Beirut.

Israel said it had expanded its airstrikes to include parts of the valley on Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the valley, established in 1982 with help from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel was preparing for the “next stages” of its operations against Hezbollah and that the airstrikes were “proactive”, targeting infrastructure that Hezbollah has built over the past 20 years.

Halevi said their aim was to enable displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets toward Israel, including military bases. It also targeted the facilities of the Rafael defense firm, based in Haifa, for a second day.

The evacuation warnings were the first of their kind in nearly a year. escalating conflict and came after a particularly intense exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah fired about 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for the attacks that killed a senior commander and dozens of warriors.

The escalating strikes and counterattacks have raised fears of a full-scale war at a time when Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and trying to negotiate the release of scores of hostages. Hamas’ October 7 attackHezbollah said it would continue its attacks in solidarity with the Iran-backed militant group Hamas.

President Joe Biden’s spokesman said the administration was concerned about the developments between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and said that reaching a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza was key to reducing tensions in the region.

“It’s in everyone’s interest to get this resolved quickly and diplomatically,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters alongside Biden, who was in New York on Tuesday to deliver his final address to the UN General Assembly.

A State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic efforts, said the United States and several other countries want to offer both Israel and Hezbollah a “way out” to reduce tensions and prevent all-out war.

The 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. He did not elaborate on what the “concrete ideas” were because he said they had not yet been presented to allies and partners for what he called a “stress test” of their likelihood of success.

Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, close to the Israeli border, have suspended their patrols and remain at their bases “given the intensity of the exchange of fire.” Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that UN Secretary-General António Guterres was “concerned” by the increasing violence and high number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon.

Monday’s death toll far exceeds Beirut’s death toll Devastating port explosion in 2020At least 218 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone non-urgent surgeries to treat people injured due to “increasing Israeli aggression against Lebanon.”

On Monday, text messages were sent to residents saying: “If you are in a building where Hezbollah weapons are stored, move away from the village until further notice.”

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said a voice message was sent to his office in Beirut telling people to leave the building.

“This is happening within the framework of the psychological warfare carried out by the enemy,” Makary said, urging people not to “give this issue more importance than it deserves.”

Settlements on both sides of the border have been largely emptied due to almost daily clashes.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of turning entire communities in the south into militant bases with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure that could lead the Israeli army to carry out a particularly heavy bombing campaign even if no ground forces are mobilised.

A senior Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen fighters, as well as dozens of civilians including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday.

Thousands of communications devices, mostly used by Hezbollah members, were seized last week. Exploded in different parts of LebanonIt killed 39 people and injured an estimated 3,000, mostly civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.

Hezbollah began firing on Israel a day after the October 7 attack, saying it was an attempt to neutralize Israeli forces to help Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes and the fighting intensified.

Hezbollah said it would continue its attacks until a ceasefire was achieved in Gaza. increasingly unattainable As the anniversary of the war approaches.

Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping around 250. About 100 captives, a third of whom are thought to be dead, remain in Gaza after most of the rest were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s offensive has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says women and children make up just over half of those killed. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

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Lidman reported from Jerusalem, and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut; Matthew Lee and Aamer Madhani in New York; and Edith M. Lederer from the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s war news at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Original Release Date: September 23, 2024 12:18 am