Lebanese Flee Homes as Israeli Strikes Targeting Hezbollah Intensify
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli military launched dozens more airstrikes against Hezbollah after downing projectiles fired from Lebanon. The attacks followed roughly 1,600 Israeli strikes Monday against Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and militants.
The impact of Israel’s strikes on Tuesday wasn’t immediately clear. Hezbollah said it had targeted six Israeli military sites overnight.
Roads were blocked as people fled southern Lebanon, as evacuation orders were broadcast on Monday, reportedly designed to move civilians out of harm’s way. Thousands had been displaced from the targeted areas, according to officials.
The surge in fighting risks spiraling into an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah after nearly a year of lower-intensity fighting, sparked by the conflict in Gaza.
Monday’s strikes were by far the deadliest day of skirmishes in the current hostilities and one of the worst bouts of bloodshed between Israel and Hezbollah since their monthlong conflict in 2006. In all, the strikes killed almost 500 people, including dozens of women and children, and wounded more than 1,600, according to Lebanese authorities.
The Israeli military has said Hezbollah uses civilian infrastructure to launch attacks on Israel and published what it said were pictures of weapons, including long-range missiles, inside homes in Lebanon.
Efforts have been made to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that could also calm fighting with Hezbollah.
Additional forces are being sent to the Middle East, though details about numbers, duration, or mission were not provided.
Israel’s goal in raising the intensity of airstrikes is to force Hezbollah to stop firing on cities and towns in Israel’s north, so tens of thousands of displaced residents can return to their homes.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel on Oct. 8 in support of Hamas, a day after the Palestinian militants launched a cross-border attack on Israeli communities that ignited the current conflict.
The Israeli bombing campaign over the past week, dubbed ‘Northern Arrows,’ has come alongside the targeted killings of Hezbollah commanders and attacks on its members involving exploding pagers that were attributed to Israel.
Israel has stated it is not interested in a full-scale war and has urged for the enforcement of a UN Security Council resolution intended to settle the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli government approved a one-week ‘special situation’ for the country, which gives the power to impose restrictions on communities due to the security situation. Such restrictions already exist in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon but have now been expanded.
More than 8,800 rockets, missiles and drones have been fired by Hezbollah into Israel since Oct. 8, according to Israel. The Israeli military has also struck Lebanon more than 8,000 times by air, drone, missile and artillery in the same period.