Israeli strikes on Lebanon – LIVE UPDATES
The Israeli military carried out a series of airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday, reportedly killing over 270 people. The strikes, which have been described as the deadliest since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, come amid the Jewish State’s expanding campaign against the Lebanese militant group.
Lebanese authorities have reported that over 1,000 people have been injured. The country’s Health Minister Firass Abiad has claimed that the strikes have hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances.
The government has ordered schools and universities across the country to begin preparing shelters as thousands of people flee from the southern regions of Lebanon.
Israel, meanwhile, has announced that it has hit some 1,300 targets, claiming to have been targeting Hezbollah weapons sites.
23 September 2024
18:10 GMTOn Monday evening, the IDF said it had struck “more than 1,300” Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with over 1,400 munitions. The Israeli military claimed it was targeting storage facilities and deployment points of rockets, missiles, launchers, and drones that “posed a threat and were intended to have been used against Israel.”
Hezbollah has fired around 200 rockets at northern Israel since Monday morning, according to the IDF.
- 17:35 GMT
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “alarmed” by the escalating conflict in Lebanon and has expressed “great concern” for the safety of civilians in that country and in Israel, according to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“The secretary-general notes the ongoing efforts by the UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon to reduce tensions, and he reiterates the urgent need for de-escalation – that all efforts should be devoted to a diplomatic solution,” Dujarric added.
- 17:20 GMT
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of acting “not as a state but as a terrorist organization,” saying that it has shown it doesn’t care about civilian lives when it remotely blew up hundreds of communications devices across Lebanon last week.
“Israel’s plan is to spread the war to the entire region,” Erdogan said on Monday, after Israel’s military announced earlier in the day it had conducted “extensive” airstrikes on 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. - 17:11 GMT
There have been casualties from an Israeli “precision strike” on the Dahiyeh neighborhood of southern Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency has said. The attack took place in Bir al-Abed but the exact number of people injured or killed remains unknown.
- 17:03 GMT
In a video message addressed to the people of Lebanon, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu argued that “Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu claimed that Hezbollah has used Lebanese civilians as “human shields” and that Israel needs to destroy the group’s weapons.
”Starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu said. “Please, get out of harm’s way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”
The Lebanese government has dismissed the Israeli calls as “psychological warfare.”
- 16:49 GMT
Israel is “crushing what was built by Hezbollah for 20 years,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday, while visiting the IDF Operations Directorate.
“[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah remains alone at the top, entire units of the Radwan Force were taken out of service, and tens of thousands of rockets were destroyed,” Gallant added, according to the IDF.
- 16:42 GMT
The US will send additional troops to the Middle East, the Pentagon announced on Monday, citing the “spike in violence” between Israel and Hezbollah.
Washington has an estimated 40,000 troops in the region. Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder would not say how many additional forces would be deployed, or what their mission might be.
The US State Department has warned Americans to leave Lebanon due to the rising risk of a regional war.
- 16:12 GMT
Israeli jets have carried out an airstrike in Beirut targeting senior Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, the Times of Israel has reported, citing security sources. Karaki is allegedly the head of Hezbollah’s southern command, responsible for military activity in south Lebanon, and a member of the Jihad Council.
- 16:06 GMT
Hezbollah has issued a statement claiming to have targeted two Israeli bases in retaliation for the Jewish state’s attacks on southern Lebanon. The group said it has launched dozens of rockets at the two bases.
- 15:57 GMT
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said the army is expanding strikes against Hezbollah positions “all over Lebanon.”
The Israeli military has also announced on X that it is currently targeting the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
