The Israel Defense Forces on Monday morning said it launched “widespread” waves of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as it warned civilians to swiftly move away from homes used by the Iran-backed terror group to store weapons, APA reports citing Times of Israel.
The military said it had identified Hezbollah operatives preparing to carry out rocket attacks on Israel. Later in the day, Hezbollah fired some 35 rockets at northern Israel.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 100 people were killed and more than 400 injured. The figures did not differentiate between members of the terror group and civilians.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attended an assessment on the readiness of the home front amid widening fighting, saying, “Ahead of us are days when the public will have to show composure, discipline, and full obedience” to instructions by the Home Front Command.
As of 3 p.m., the Israeli Air Force had struck more than 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the IDF said.
According to the military, dozens of fighter jets from all of the IAF’s squadrons participated in the strikes.
The official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said that the strikes in the eastern Beqaa Valley region killed a “civilian” shepherd, “and wounded two members of his family” and four others.
NNA reported that “enemy warplanes launched, more than 80 airstrikes in half an hour,” targeting south Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh district. It also reported strikes in the Tyre area.
At the same time, the NNA reported “intense raids in the Beqaa” Valley in the east, deep inside Lebanon near the Syrian border, including in the vicinity of Baalbek and the outskirts of Hermel.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an afternoon press conference that the military was striking “infrastructure that Hezbollah built up for years.” He said “every home” hit by the Israeli Air Force on Monday was used by Hezbollah to store weapons.
“The sights that are now seen in southern Lebanon are Hezbollah’s weapons exploding inside houses. Every home we struck, there are rockets, drones, missiles, which were intended to kill Israeli civilians,” he said.