JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said it struck 300 targets in Lebanon on Monday in one of the most intense airstrikes in nearly a year of fighting Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 100 people were killed and more than 400 injured in what is believed to be the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict began in October.
Before the escalation triggered by the wave of pager explosions last Tuesday, around 600 people had been killed in Lebanon since October, mostly fighters but also more than 100 civilians.
The Israeli military announced the move on social media, posting a photo of what it said was military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approving additional attacks from the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Halevi and other Israeli leaders have vowed tougher measures against Hezbollah in the coming days.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli military post in the Galilee. It also targeted for the second consecutive day the facilities of the Rafael defense company, based in Haifa.
As Israel carried out its attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of air raid sirens in northern Israel, warning of rocket fire from Lebanon.
Earlier Monday, Israel urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate homes and other buildings where it said Hezbollah had stored weapons, saying the army would carry out “large-scale strikes” against the group.
It is the first such warning in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict, and comes after a particularly intense exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah launched about 150 rockets, missiles and drones toward northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a senior commander and dozens of fighters.
There was no sign of an immediate exodus from villages in southern Lebanon, and the warning left open the possibility that some residents may be living in or near the targeted structures without knowing they are in danger.
The increase in strikes and counterattacks has raised fears of all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in Gaza and tries to return scores of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack. Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, another Iran-backed group. Israel says it is determined to restore calm to its northern border.
Associated Press journalists in southern Lebanon reported heavy airstrikes targeting numerous areas Monday morning, including some far from the border.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said the strikes hit a wooded area in the central province of Byblos, about 130 kilometers north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since the exchanges began in October. No injuries were reported there. Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern regions of Baalbek and Hermel, where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were wounded, the news agency said. A total of 30 people were injured in the strikes.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be performed later. The ministry said in a statement that its request was aimed at keeping hospitals ready to treat those injured by “Israel’s growing aggression against Lebanon.”
An Israeli military official said Israel was focusing on air operations and had no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the strikes were aimed at limiting Hezbollah’s ability to launch further strikes against Israel.
Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to stay away from any buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons until further notice.
“If you find yourself in a building housing Hezbollah weapons, stay away from the village until further notice,” the message read in Arabic, according to Lebanese media.
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said in a statement that his office in Beirut had received a recorded message asking people to leave the building.
“This is part of the psychological warfare waged by the enemy,” Makary said, urging people “not to give this issue more attention than it deserves.”
It is not yet clear how many people will be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have been largely emptied of their populations due to the near-daily exchanges of fire.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of turning entire villages in the south into bases, hiding rocket launchers and other infrastructure. This could lead the Israeli army to carry out a particularly intense bombing campaign, even if no ground forces intervene.
The army said it had targeted more than 150 sites as of Monday morning. Residents of several villages in southern Lebanon posted photos of airstrikes and large plumes of smoke on social media. The official National News Agency also reported airstrikes on several areas.
An Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a senior Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen fighters, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon has accused Israel of being responsible for the attacks, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel a day after the October 7 attack, in what it said was an attempt to force Israeli forces to help Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict has intensified over the past year.
The fighting has left hundreds dead in Lebanon, dozens in Israel and tens of thousands displaced on both sides of the border. It has also sparked brush fires that have destroyed farmland and disfigured the landscape.
Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah away from the border so its citizens can return home, saying it prefers to do so through diplomacy but is prepared to use force. Hezbollah has said it will continue its attacks until a ceasefire is established in Gaza, but that appears increasingly elusive as the war approaches its anniversary.
Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. About 100 captives remain in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have died, with most of the rest freed during a week-long ceasefire in November.
The Israeli offensive has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its count. It says women and children account for just over half of the casualties. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
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