At least 356 people were killed in Lebanon on Monday, including 24 children, the bloodiest daily toll in nearly a year of cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel said its air strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon had targeted hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and it warned of more to come.
After almost a year of bombardment in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern frontier, from where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel.
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Israel’s military on Monday struck Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, eastern Bekaa valley and northern region near Syria in its most widespread strikes.
About 5,000 people had been wounded “in less than a week” of Israeli attacks, after Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded and an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Here are the latest updates of the ongoing escalation.
Nationwide emergency in Israel
The Israeli government has declared a “special home front situation” state of emergency throughout Israel, until September 30th.
The Israeli government’s decision came following an airstrike that targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut today.
Senior leader is safe
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday that senior leader Ali Karak, the head of the southern front, is okay and moved to a safe place, after a security source told Reuters he was targeted in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon
Rising death toll
The death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon has reached 356, with 1,246 others injured since Monday morning, a statement from Lebanon’s health ministry said, adding that 24 children and 42 women were among the dead.
Etihad cancels flights
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways cancelled its services to and from Beirut on Tuesday, September 24, in response to the ongoing regional developments.
The airline is monitoring the situation across the region and continues to maintain close contact with authorities.
Countries in the region react
With fears of an all-out war breaking in the region, some countries reacted to the ongoing escalation, calling for international intervention.
Turkey said Israel’s strikes on Lebanon threaten to ‘drag entire region into chaos,’ the ministry released in a statement.
Egypt urged the UN Security Council’s intervention after ‘dangerous Israeli escalation’ in Lebanon.
Meanwhile Iraq’s Prime Minister has requested for ‘urgent’ Arab meeting at UN General Assembly over Israel raids on Lebanon.
‘We don’t want war,’ says Iranian President
Israel wants to drag the Middle East into a full-blown war by provoking Iran to join the nearly year-old conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian President said on Monday, warning of its “irreversible” consequences.
Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking to a group of journalists after his arrival in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, said: “We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be irreversible”
“We want to live in peace, we don’t want war,” he added. “It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict.”
‘Next phases of Lebanon operation’
The Israeli military is preparing for the next stage of its ‘operation’ in Lebanon after launching a wave of air strikes 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, giving no details but adding that he would “elaborate shortly”.
UN chief alarmed by escalating situation
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio 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 on Monday
Panic as Lebanese flee Israeli strikes
Health workers in southern Lebanon scrambled to treat hundreds of people wounded on Monday, as families rushed to flee the deadliest Israeli strikes in nearly a year of cross-border clashes.
“Wounded people are pouring in non-stop… I don’t know how many have been wounded because the injured are lining the street outside the hospital,” said an employee of the Tebnin hospital in southern Lebanon, requesting anonymity citing security concerns.
US sending more troops to Middle East as tensions grow
The United States is sending a “small number” of additional troops to the Middle East in response to rising tensions in the region, the Pentagon said Monday, giving few further details.
The announcement comes as fears of a broader regional war grow, with Israel striking hundreds of targets in Lebanon in what is by far the deadliest cross-border escalation in nearly a year of violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
‘Move out of harms way’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanese people to move away from danger as the Israeli military pounded Hezbollah targets in the country’s south and east on Monday.
“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.
Jordan suspends flights
Jordan has suspended flights operated by Jordanian carriers to Beirut until further notice, the country’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission said on Monday.
Hezbollah southern front commander targeted
A source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday targeted the group’s commander for south Lebanon, where the movement has clashed with Israel for nearly a year.
“The target of the Israeli strike was Ali Karake, the current commander of the southern front and the third-in-command after” two top commanders who were both killed in Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs in recent weeks, said the source requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. It was unclear whether he had been killed, the source said.
Strikes hit Beirut
An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday evening, a security source told Reuters, but said it was not immediately clear what type of strike was used or what was hit.
‘Bloodiest daily toll’
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the death toll in Israeli strikes Monday rose to 274, including 21 children, the bloodiest daily toll in nearly a year of cross-border clashes.
The toll stood at “274 dead including 21 children and 39 women — that’s who we know about until now”, Abiad told reporters, adding “thousands of families from the targeted areas have been displaced”.
The dead also included two rescuers, with 16 other emergency workers wounded, he said, adding that “two ambulances, a fire truck and a medical centre were targeted”.