Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. More than 1,645 people were wounded in the strikes, the Health Ministry said, a staggering one-day toll for the country.
The Israeli military said it hit more than 1,600 targets Monday linked to Hezbollah weapons sites. It said it was expanding the operation to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border.
Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns that were being struck.
The wave of airstrikes came after a day after Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa.
Hezbollah’s rockets were in response to an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday that killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen members, along with civilians including women and children.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.
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Here’s the latest:
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israel’s army says Israeli warplanes have now struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, up from 1,300 a couple of hours ago. In a statement, it says hundreds of aircraft took part in the attacks.
Israeli Defense Forces continue to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as part of Operation Northern Arrows, it said.
Targets hit include launchers, command posts and infrastructure in numerous areas in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
UNITED NATIONS – U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border have stopped their patrols and are staying in their bases “given the volume of exchange of fire,” the U.N. spokesman said.
Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that the level of firing across the U.N.-drawn Blue Line boundary between Israel and Lebanon “puts them at greater risk.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “alarmed” at the escalating violence, and the reports of a large number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon, he said.
The U.N. chief is gravely concerned for the safety of civilians both in southern Lebanon and northern Israel as well as for U.N. staff, the U.N. spokesman said.
“The message to the parties that are firing at each other across the Blue Line, to all the parties involved in this conflict, is step back from the brink,” Dujarric said. “Stop the escalation.”
NEW YORK - The U.S. has “concrete ideas” for restoring calm along the Israel-Lebanon border that it will present to allies and partners this week during the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders, a senior State Department official said Monday.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomatic efforts, said the U.S. and numerous other countries were keen to present an “off-ramp” for both Israel and Hezbollah to reduce tensions and prevent an all-out war.
The official would not detail what the “concrete ideas” are because he said they had yet to be presented to allies and partners for what he termed a “stress test” for their likelihood of success.
The situation along Israel’s northern border, as well as so-far unsuccessful efforts to forge a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, will be on the agenda during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s dinner meeting later Monday with his counterparts from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies.
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON — Treasury’s Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo spoke with Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron, on Monday. He shared U.S. government concerns about Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s threats to sever correspondent banking relationships between Israeli and Palestinian banks and “insisted that these should be extended for at least a year,” according to a Treasury news release.
Adeyemo also stressed that the extension “is critical to preventing an economic crisis in the West Bank, and to strengthening Israel’s security by countering financial flows funding terror groups,” Treasury said.
NEW YORK — Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said Monday that the Biden administration is concerned about what’s happening between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon but insisted that getting a cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza is key to help ease tensions in the region.
Jean-Pierre said the latest conflict has “gone on for too long.”
“It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically. And that’s where we’ve been. That’s where we continue to say we need to see a diplomatic resolution,” Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to New York, where Biden is set to deliver his final address as president to the U.N. General Assembly session on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre said securing freedom for Israelis and Americans who continue to be held by Hamas, increasing humanitarian aid into Gaza and ending the war will help ease tensions.
“That’s what we’re going to continue to work towards,” she said.
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon — Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
The death toll far surpassed that of Beirut’s devastating port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated, killing at least 218 people and wounding more than 6,000.
BAGHDAD — About 250 Iraqi fighters from four Iran-backed militias landed in Lebanon Monday to support Hezbollah in its ongoing conflict with Israel, two Iraqi militia officials said. The militants, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, did not give details, though they said those militiamen fought alongside Hezbollah in Syria and have experience in urban warfare.
As Hezbollah started attacking Israel last October to support its allies Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq started claiming attacks on U.S. bases there and sometimes on Israel, as part of a so-called support front for Gaza.
Iraqi militias have been backed by Hezbollah, and officials have vowed to support the Lebanese group should the conflict escalate in the tiny Mediterranean country. They also fought alongside Hezbollah to support the Syrian government in thwarting opposition rebels from overthrowing President Bashar Assad from rule.
A travel agent told the AP that all flights from Baghdad to Beirut on the contrary’s flagship airline are booked until October.
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military spokesman says the army will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Speaking to foreign reporters, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari claimed Monday’s widespread airstrikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah. But he would not give a timeline for the ongoing operation and said Israel was prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon if needed.
“We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats,” he said. “’We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission. We hope to do it as shortly as we can.”
Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 700 in the past week alone. He says Israel will fight until Hezbollah moves its forces far from the border, and tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return to their homes near Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities reported over 350 dead in Monday’s airstrikes, including more than 60 women and children.
Hagari accused Hezbollah of using civilians as “human shields” by hiding weapons in Lebanese villages and displayed videos of what he said were secondary explosions caused by Hezbollah weapons hidden in homes.
He said it was likely that some of the deaths Monday came from secondary explosions, but gave no other evidence.
Hezbollah in a statement Monday denied reports that its senior commander Ali Karaki was killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike in a southern Beirut suburb.
“Ali Karaki is fine and God willing is in full health and wellnesses. He has been transported to a safe area,” the statement from the Iran-backed group said.
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon — Lebanon’s health ministry says the death toll from Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Monday has increased to 356, including 24 children and 42 women.
The barrage is the deadliest since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah.
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006. More than 1,240 people were wounded in the strikes, the health ministry said — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
The death toll surpassed that of Beirut’s devastating port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated, killing at least 218 people and wounding more than 6,000.
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israel’s military spokesman says Israeli warplanes struck 1,300 Hezbollah targets on Monday.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the strikes destroyed Hezbollah cruise missiles, rockets laden with heavy explosives, long and short-range rockets and attack drones. He said many were hidden in residential areas, showing photos of what he said were weapons hidden in private homes.
“Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone,” he told a news conference.
CAIRO — Egypt on Monday condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, warning that its military escalation will only aggravate the crisis.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry urged international powers and the U.N. Security Council to intervene to stop Israel’s escalation in the region.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he planned to discuss “efforts to end the war in Gaza” during a Monday Oval Office meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Biden told his UAE counterpart that he’s been briefed on the latest developments regarding Israel and Lebanon and that his team is “working to de-escalate” in a way that allows people to return to their homes safely.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s defense minister says the Israeli offensive in Lebanon has destroyed tens of thousands of rockets in Hezbollah’s formidable arsenal.
Yoav Gallant said during an assessment with military commanders Monday that the results of the Israeli air campaign are “extremely impressive.”
“Today is a significant peak,” Gallant said. “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 … is in fact being destroyed.”
Israel estimates that Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister has urged the U.N. Security Council to implement a 2006 resolution calling on Hezbollah to move its forces far from the Israeli border.
Resolution 1701 ended a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution required Hezbollah to move some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, but it has refused, accusing Israel of failing to carry out provisions.
In a letter to the council, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the council “must act to bring about a full implementation” of the resolution. He warned that Israel would not tolerate the “ongoing war of attrition” with Hezbollah.
“Israel is not interested in a full-scale war,” he wrote. “However, we will take all necessary measures to protect ourselves and our citizens in accordance with international law as part of the ongoing armed conflict against Hezbollah.”
He also called for international sanctions against Iran, saying the Tehran government is the “mastermind” behind Hezbollah’s attacks.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military chief says Israel is preparing its “next phases” of operations against Hezbollah.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told soldiers Monday that Israel’s airstrikes were “proactive” and targeting Hezbollah infrastructure built over the past 20 years.
“We are striking targets and preparing for the next phases,” he said, promising to release details in the near future.
He says the goal of the offensive is to allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency is reporting an Israeli strike on a southern Beirut suburb with three missiles.
Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said six people were wounded in the strike on the Beir al-Abed neighborhood adding that they were rushed to hospital.
A Hezbollah official confirmed the airstrike without giving further details.
The area was cordoned and journalists were not allowed to get close to the building that was hit.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate their homes, saying “take this warning seriously.”
Benjamin Netanyahu issued the warning Monday in a videotaped message his office said was aimed at Lebanese civilians. He spoke as Israeli warplanes continued to strike alleged Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Earlier Monday, Israel ordered residents in the targeted areas to leave ahead of the airstrikes. Israeli officials say Hezbollah uses civilian areas to hide weapons.
“Please get out of harm’s way now,” Netanyahu said. “Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”
BEIRUT — Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad says 274 people have been killed in ongoing Israeli strikes Monday, and more than 1,000 injured.
At a press conference in Beirut, Abiad said thousands of families have been displaced by the attacks. He also said Israeli strikes have hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances.
The Israeli military announced that it hit some 800 targets Monday, claiming it was going after Hezbollah weapons.
JERUSALEM — Hezbollah launched more than 100 projectiles toward Israel on Monday, the military said, reaching deep into Israel including around the northern city of Haifa and parts of the occupied West Bank.
Most of the missiles were intercepted but two people were lightly injured from falling shrapnel in northern Israel. A number of homes suffered direct hits.
School was canceled in northern Israel on Sunday and Monday and Israelis were instructed to stay close to protected areas.
The Israeli military said they had struck more than 800 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and were enlarging the operation to include eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley as well.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 180 people were killed and 700 injured, the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
BEIRUT — The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon expressed “grave concern" for the safety of civilians in the south following the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since hostilities erupted in October.
“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 (the border between Lebanon and Israel) but also for the broader region,” it said in a statement.
It added that “attacks on civilians are not only violations of international law but may amount to war crimes.”
Lebanese health officials said more than 180 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes Monday. It was not immediately clear how many of them were civilians.
The U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, said its commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro had contacted Lebanese and Israeli officials to urge de-escalation.
BEIRUT — The death toll in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon has risen to 182 with 727 others wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
The Lebanese Red Cross told The Associated Press that all ambulance stations across the country have been mobilized, supporting paramedics in southern Lebanon.
Hospitals in the south are struggling with capacity and other units from the Red Cross are helping relocate wounded people to hospitals farther north, officials said.
GAZA CITY — Israeli strikes in Gaza left 24 dead and 60 wounded in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian territory said Monday.
The fresh fatalities brought the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7 to 41,455, and 95,878 wounded, said the ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.
Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the militants launched an attack on southern Israel in which they killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it is widening an aerial offensive against what it says are Hezbollah weapons sites in southern and eastern Lebanon.
The military said Monday that it was expanding its airstrikes to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border, after targeting more than 300 sites in southern Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said residents of the Bekaa Valley must immediately evacuate areas where Hezbollah is storing weapons.
BEIRUT — Thousands of people are leaving south Lebanon and heading north after Israel intensified airstrikes on Monday, leaving 100 people dead and hundreds wounded.
In the southern port city of Sidon, the main north-south highway was packed with cars heading north in the direction of the capital Beirut.
Following a Cabinet meeting in Beirut Monday, Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin told reporters that some schools are being prepared in Mount Lebanon to receive those fleeing.
It was the biggest wave of displacement since the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when hundreds of thousands fled their homes in the south.
BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities say 100 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting against the Hezbollah militant group.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said more than 400 others were wounded in the strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday.
It said among them were women, children, and paramedics.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Monday has killed at least 50 and wounded more than 300 people.
The ministry said that the toll was preliminary as airstrikes intensified around noon and women and children were among the dead.
The airstrikes hit wide areas in southern and northeastern Lebanon. Israel’s military said it struck 300 targets across Lebanon linked to the militant group Hezbollah.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday 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 in which he said that Israel’s airstrikes aim to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages.
Mikati said that the Lebanese government is calling on the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council and world nations to “deter the aggression.”
BEIRUT — Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon on Monday killed at least one person and wounded others.
The airstrikes hit the heights of the central province of Byblos for the first time since exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border began in early October, NNA said. A security official confirmed the airstrike in the village of Almat.
Also targeted by the early morning airstrikes were the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were wounded in the fields of the village of Bodai, NNA said. It added that four other people were also wounded in Bodai and were all taken to hospitals in the area.
NNA also said that 11 people were wounded in the southern village of Aitaroun, including 1 in serious condition.
BEIJING — China is urging its citizens in Lebanon and Israel to evacuate or move to safe areas as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is escalating.
Chinese citizens in Lebanon should take commercial flights to return to China or otherwise leave Lebanon as soon as possible for their own safety, the Consular Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on social media platform WeChat on Monday.
“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, effectively strengthen their security precautions and emergency preparedness and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement read.
On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Israel cautioned its citizens in the country to be prepared for any potential attacks including by missiles, rockets and drones. It added that Chinese people were advised against traveling to Israel and entering high-risk areas in the country’s north.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has called on people in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and says it is carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group.
Monday's announcement was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of low-level conflict along the border.
Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.
“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message reads, according to Lebanese media.
It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied out because of the near-daily exchanges of fire.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead it to wage an especially heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move in.
Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Monday.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed eight Palestinians, including five children.
A girl and her parents were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza early Monday. The girl’s two siblings were wounded.
Israel has struck several such schools-turned-shelters, saying militants hide out in them.
Another strike hit a home near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children, aged 4 to 8.
The casualties from both strikes were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters. It says a little over half were women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).
A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the U.N. agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.
“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.
MUWASI, Gaza Strip — As the first rain of the cool season starts to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are struggling to cope with flooding that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
Some children are entertained by the novelty of walking barefoot in the ankle-deep water, but their parents are less amused. The adults try to save what they can from their family's tents. One mother tries to dry her temporary home with a mop.
“We woke up in the morning to find the tents with rainwater pouring on us, and water from the streets entering on us,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the coming days?”
Suhail Al-Barawi, a displaced person from Beit Lahiya, was helping to build sand barriers to prevent more flooding in the camp.
“People wish for rain," he said, "and we say, ‘Oh God, do not give us rain.’”
The nearly yearlong war between Israel and Hamas has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
Israel’s defense minister says recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon are a step toward facilitating the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.
Speaking Sunday evening after visiting the military’s Northern Command headquarters, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful.”
He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”
Israeli attacks since Friday have killed dozens in Lebanon, including a veteran Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded with more than 100 missile attacks in northern Israel early Sunday, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis into air raid shelters.
Gallant says: “The past week has been the most difficult in the history of Hezbollah’s existence —especially over the past day.”