John Jefferson
Israel’s military says an “extensive” wave of airstrikes has hit more than 300 Hezbollah targets Monday as residents of southern Lebanon are being warned to stay away from buildings where the terrorist group is storing weapons.
The strikes are in response to Hezbollah launching around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel on Sunday following Israeli military operations that resulted in the deaths of multiple top Hezbollah commanders. Monday’s strikes so far have killed more than 180 in Lebanon and have left over 700 injured, health officials there told The Associated Press.
“I urge the Lebanese residents… who are inside or near houses where rockets and weapons are stored, to move away immediately! For your safety and protection,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
“Hezbollah intends to launch these weapons toward Israel, and we will not allow it! Stay away for your own protection,” he added. “[Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah is lying to you and putting you in danger. Listen to the warnings and messages that will be issued by the IDF for your safety and the safety of your families.”
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The Associated Press, citing Lebanese media, says locals also are receiving a text message written in Arabic saying “If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice.”
The Lebanese Health Ministry is asking hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley to postpone surgeries that could be done later. The ministry said in a statement that its request aimed to keep hospitals ready to deal with people wounded by “Israel’s expanding aggression on Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday’s strikes from Israel hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 81 miles north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since the exchanges between the two sides began in October, according to the AP. No injuries were reported there.
Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, the National News Agency said.
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that “[s]o far over 300 Hezbollah targets have been struck today,” and that it is “currently conducting extensive strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.”
“I repeat and reiterate: Israel does not seek war. But we have the right and the duty to defend our people,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X, sharing a video he claims “shows how Hezbollah stores and launches missiles in civilian areas and homes.”
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“Thousands and thousands of long-range rockets are kept in houses, living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens, and then launched with the sole intention of killing our people. Would you accept this in your or your neighbor’s home?” Herzog asked. “What nation would accept its citizens living under such a threat from its neighbors?”
Hagari said Monday that Israel is “continuing to monitor Hezbollah’s preparations in the field in order to proactively thwart attacks against Israeli territory, and we are systematically broadening our strikes against Hezbollah. .
“Hezbollah stores strategic weapons in civilian buildings, knowingly using the population as human shields and endangering them,” he added. “We are currently using aerial and intelligence means to locate the weapons, destroy them and remove the threat they pose to the citizens of the State of Israel, and mitigate the harm to Lebanese civilians as much as possible.”
The latest escalation between Israeli forces and Hezbollah comes as Lebanon is still reeling from a series of explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. The explosions killed at least 37 people and wounded about 3,000, according to local officials. The attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Kassem, said Sunday’s rocket attack against Israel was just the beginning of what is now an “open-ended battle.”
Hezbollah first began firing into Israel a day after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, in what it said was an attempt to pin down Israeli forces to help Hamas in Gaza.
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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