LONDON — The Israeli military was preparing to expand its strikes across Lebanon early Monday as the long-running border conflict with Hezbollah threatened to explode into a wider war.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement that further Israeli strikes were planned against Hezbollah’s “terrorist infrastructure” in the border region and elsewhere.
“Soon, the Israeli army will launch extensive and precise strikes against terrorist targets widely located throughout Lebanon,” Hagari said early Monday.
“We advise civilians in Lebanese villages located near buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move away from the danger for their own safety.”
Dozens of Israeli warplanes struck at least 150 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday morning, shortly after Hagari’s warning.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post that Israel would “act with all its might” to change the current situation in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Katz said, “took the Lebanese people hostage, placing missiles and weapons in their homes and villages to threaten Israeli civilians.”
“This is clearly a war crime,” Katz said. “We will not accept this reality.”
An Israeli fighter jet is pictured in northern Israel on September 23, 2024, amid cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.
Jim Urquhart/Reuters
“The Lebanese people must evacuate any home that has been turned into a Hezbollah outpost to avoid any danger,” Katz continued. “We will not stop until the threat is eliminated for Israeli citizens and the residents of the north return safely to their homes.”
Thousands of Lebanese mobile phone users received a text message from the Israeli military on Monday warning them: “If you find yourself in a building where Hezbollah weapons are located, stay away from the village until further notice.” Similar messages were broadcast on Lebanese radio.
The new Israeli warnings come after a weekend of intense cross-border fire, with rockets, missiles and drones fired at Israel by Hezbollah and Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
Fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah has been ongoing since October 8, when the Iran-backed militant group launched attacks on Israel in protest of Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will continue its attacks until Israeli forces withdraw from the Palestinian territory.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have fled border areas under Hezbollah fire since the fighting began. Their return is a priority for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
“We will take all necessary measures to restore security and bring our citizens safely back to their homes,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Fighters from Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah attend the funeral of top military commander Ibrahim Aqil in the southern suburbs of Beirut, September 22, 2024.
-/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli leaders also demand that Hezbollah withdraw beyond the Litani River – about 18 miles north of the Israeli border – as stipulated in a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the last major cross-border war.
“If the world does not withdraw Hezbollah north of the Litani River in accordance with Resolution 1701, Israel will,” Katz said Sunday.
The conflict escalated last week with Israel’s bombing of Hezbollah communications devices in Lebanon and Syria, which Nasrallah described as an “unprecedented blow” to the group.
Two consecutive days of explosions – which killed at least 37 people and wounded 2,931, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad – were followed by the death of Hezbollah’s operations chief, Ibrahim Aqil, and 14 other members in an airstrike in Beirut.
The attack in Dahiya, a suburb of Hezbollah, left at least 45 people dead, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The dead included at least three children aged 4, 6 and 10 and seven women, the ministry said. Dozens of people were injured.
Hezbollah leaders said they would continue their operations despite last week’s setbacks.
Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qasem spoke at Aqil’s funeral in Beirut on Sunday, telling hundreds of mourners that the conflict had now entered “a new phase” which he called an “open battle of judgment.”
“Threats will not stop us and we do not fear the most dangerous eventualities,” he continued. “We are ready to face all military scenarios.”
Israeli communities in the north of the country are bracing for a new escalation of violence. The Israeli military issued new security directives on Sunday, closing schools and beaches in the area, while Haifa’s Rambam Hospital transferred patients to an underground facility.
People walk on a beach as smoke rises over southern Lebanon after Israeli strikes as part of ongoing cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah, as seen from Tyre, southern Lebanon, September 23, 2024.
Aziz Taher/Reuters
This weekend, the State Department reissued its Level 4 “do not travel” warning for Lebanon, noting “recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including in Beirut.”
The Interior Department’s warning from last July, which asked U.S. citizens to “depart Lebanon while commercial flights are still available,” remains unchanged. “Currently, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity,” the notice said.
“If the security situation deteriorates, commercial departure options may become unavailable.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and stressed the importance of reaching a diplomatic solution to return citizens to their homes in the north” in a phone call Sunday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, according to a Pentagon statement.
Austin also “underscored his concern for the safety of American citizens in the region,” the Pentagon said.
ABC News’ Dana Savir, Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
