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Israel launched a relentless series of airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah targets on Monday, marking Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades, killing more than 350 people and bringing the region a step closer to all-out war.
Israeli warplanes struck hundreds of targets across the country, including in Beirut’s southern suburbs, as President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government stepped up attacks on Hezbollah in a “new phase” of the war.
The bombings raised fears of all-out hostilities in the Middle East and spread panic across Lebanon, causing tens of thousands to flee targeted areas.
Monday’s death toll was the highest since Israel launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah in 2006, and came despite U.S. warnings to Israel not to escalate its military operation against the Iran-backed militant group.
The Israeli military said it had struck around 800 Hezbollah targets, said it would continue attacks on buildings where the militant group is believed to be storing weapons and warned civilians to evacuate.
“We are not waiting for threats, we are pre-empting them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement, warning of “complex days” ahead.
“We are removing the officials, the terrorists, the missiles. I promised to change the balance of security, the balance of power in the north, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
Late on Monday, the Israeli cabinet, anticipating a fierce Hezbollah counterattack, approved a “special” (state of emergency) across the country, giving the military greater freedom to restrict civilian life and activities in the wake of the war.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 356 people were killed, including 42 women and 24 children, and a further 1,246 were injured.
Roads in southern Lebanon were congested with traffic as civilians fled north to Beirut, and schools across the country were turned into emergency shelters for displaced people.
Lebanese people flee south Lebanon by car to Sidon and Beirut on Monday © Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Israel issued several warnings throughout Monday urging civilians to leave buildings where Hezbollah is storing weapons, first in southern Lebanon and then in the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley, where the group has long had a large presence.
Beirut residents told the Financial Times that they had received warning calls from the Israeli military on landlines, ordering residents of villages in targeted areas to leave.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces urged people to evacuate potential targets within two hours and to stay at least one kilometre away.
Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of missiles at targets in northern Israel, including a facility owned by the Rafael defense company north of Haifa, in retaliation for the IDF attack. The group stressed that the attacks were focused on military targets “to defend Lebanon and its people.”
Sirens sounded multiple times throughout the day in northern Israel, but fewer rockets landed in Israeli population centers than on Sunday, when militant groups attacked the outskirts of Haifa.
Israeli media said Monday’s attack hit a house in the Galilee village of Givat Avni, while the Israeli Settlements Council in the region said rockets were also intercepted over the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged citizens to prepare for a stronger response. “We are stepping up our attacks on Lebanon and the series of operations is continuing,” he said. “The days ahead will require Israelis to show calm and discipline.”
These rising tensions have raised concerns that a full-scale ground war may be imminent.
Asked about a possible ground invasion of southern Lebanon, Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said Israel would “do whatever is necessary” to stop Hezbollah from attacking northern Israel and allow local residents to return to their homes.
Iranian President Massoud Pezechkian said Israel was trying to drag Iran “into a broader war.” “They are dragging us to a point where we don’t want to go,” he told reporters on Monday.
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Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Al-Makari said on social media that many residents in Beirut and other areas had received “random” messages via landline phone urging them to evacuate their locations.
His office in Beirut also received one of the calls, which he said was part of Israel’s “psychological warfare” policy, adding that “the Ministry of Intelligence’s work continues as usual.”
The airstrikes caused chaos across the country. Lebanese media footage showed explosions shaking villages in the Bekaa and rescue workers and residents wading through the rubble in the aftermath of the attacks. Schools in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and Beirut’s southern suburbs were closed.
The Health Ministry has asked all hospitals in the south and east of the country to suspend non-urgent surgeries to accommodate those wounded in Israeli attacks, and hospitals in northern Israel have also begun relocating operations further south, away from the fighting.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati told a cabinet meeting that Israel’s attacks were a “war of annihilation.” Citing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who warned on Sunday that southern Lebanon could become “another Gaza,” Mikati called on the international community to “pressure Israel to end its aggression.”
The fighting came after mass explosions of Hezbollah communications equipment across Lebanon killed 37 people and injured more than 3,000, which Hezbollah blamed on Israel, which has not directly confirmed or denied responsibility.
