Israeli airstrikes kill at least 492 in Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon killed at least 492 people Monday, including 35 children, the health ministry said, marking the deadliest day of cross-border violence since the Gaza war began.

Arab states strongly condemned Israel for the escalating hostilities with Hezbollah, which have intensified to levels unseen in nearly a year.

Israel said it killed a “large number” of Hezbollah fighters when it hit about 1,300 sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a “targeted strike” in Beirut.

Hezbollah said Ali Karake, its third-in-command, was alive and had moved to safety after a source said the strike on the capital targeted him.

State media reported new raids in eastern Lebanon, while Hezbollah said it targeted five sites in Israel.

In the coastal Israeli city of Haifa, people were seen running for cover when air raid sirens sounded.

Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 others. Health Minister Firass Abiad said “thousands of families” had been displaced.

Explosions near the ancient city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon sent smoke billowing into the sky.

Israel warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said the armed movement was storing weapons.

Nasser Yassin, the Lebanese minister coordinating the crisis response, said 89 temporary shelters in schools and the like had been activated, with capacity for more than 26,000 people as civilians fled “Israeli atrocities”.

After almost a year of war against Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas.

Israel’s military said it had struck Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, east and north.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “On this day we have taken out of order tens of thousands of rockets and precise munition.”

The Israeli air force said on X it had carried out about 650 strike missions in the past 24 hours, attacking more than 1,100 targets using more than 1,400 munitions.

In response to the strikes, Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of missiles at a military base in northern Israel.

More attacks were expected in Lebanon.

Israel’s military spokesperson said Israeli aircraft were preparing to attack strategic Hezbollah weapons stashed in houses in the Bekaa valley and urged civilians to evacuate.

The strikes have redoubled the pressure on Hezbollah, which last week suffered losses when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.