IDF hits over 300 Hezbollah targets during two major waves of airstrikes in Lebanon
Among the attacks was a significant strike against Hezbollah deep into Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley.
By YONAH JEREMY BOB, KESHET NEEVUpdated: SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 14:16 Smoke billows from the site of Israeli airstrikes in Aramti, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. (photo credit: RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
The IDF hit over 300 Hezbollah targets during two major rounds of strikes against Hezbollah on Monday.
The second round of strikes followed a warning from IDF spokesperson R. Admiral Daniel Hagari to the public in southern Lebanon to evacuate areas where the terror group had stored rockets or conducted other activities. Lebanon received more than 80,000 suspected Israeli call attempts asking people to evacuate their areas, the head of telecoms company Ogero, Imad Kreidieh, told Reuters on Monday.
Following the strikes, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that 100 people in Lebanon had been killed and more than 300 wounded from the attacks.
These waves of air strikes constituted the fifth and sixth round of massive air strikes on Hezbollah since Thursday of last week, especially in southern Lebanon, including further from the border than in some prior cases.
Among the attacks was a significant strike against Hezbollah deep into Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. A senior Hezbollah official, Ali Aburia, was reportedly killed in one of the IAF strikes on Lebanon, Sky News Arabia reported on Monday, citing multiple sources.
More footage from Israel’s attack on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon. Hezbollah failed to launch a single barrage today so fat. It will, definitely, but its arsenal suffers heavy blows https://t.co/OVQd5N8luJpic.twitter.com/YPOoBoGxII
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. The Israeli military on September 23 told people in Lebanon to move away from Hezbollah targets and vowed to carry out more ''extensive and precise'' strikes against the Iran-back (credit: RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
Lebanon's prime minister responds to the strikes
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced Israel's strikes, calling them part of a "destructive plan," Al Arabiya reported.
“The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word and a destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns,” Mikati told a cabinet meeting.
He reportedly urged the UN to "deter Israeli aggression."
Warning southern civilians
Before the strikes, the IDF sent out text messages to the southern Lebanese citizens urging them to stay away from Hezbollah structures, Israeli media reported.
"If you are in a building containing Hezbollah weapons, move away immediately until further notice," the text message sent to the civilians reportedly read.
Furthermore, The Jerusalem Post confirmed that Israel took control of radio broadcasts shortly before 8 a.m., instructing residents in southern Lebanon to evacuate areas where Hezbollah weapons were concentrated. A Lebanese man checks a message received on his mobile phone in Beirut on September 23, 2024, calling people to evacuate the areas where Hezbollah hides its weapons. Israel's military pounded Hezbollah targets in south and east Lebanon on September 23 and said more strikes were coming (credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
According to a Reuters reporter, residents in southern Lebanon also received calls from a Lebanese number ordering them to distance themselves 1,000 meters from any Hezbollah post immediately.
Additionally, the command of UNIFIL, the UN force in Lebanon, ordered all of its civilian employees to leave with their families to safe areas north of the Litani River, security sources told the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar newspaper.
Restoring safety in the North
Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, in response to the attacks, said that the strikes on Lebanon must continue until safety is restored in Israel's North and evacuated civilians can return to their homes.
“What began early this morning after a significant delay must only end when Hezbollah is pushed back from the northern border, the residents return to their homes, and life here in Nahariya and throughout the northern region returns to normal, including children going back to school."
"Now, we must continue. We offer our support to the security forces and the Israel Air Force," Lapid concluded.
