100 killed, 400 injured in IDF strikes on Lebanon; Hezbollah targets Israel’s military facilities
- In Reports
- 06:29 PM, Sep 23, 2024
- Myind Staff
The deadliest day in nearly a year of cross-border clashes that run the risk of turning into a full-scale war occurred on Monday when Israel launched about 300 attacks on Hezbollah strongholds throughout Lebanon, resulting in at least 100 deaths and over 400 injuries. “Enemy raids on southern towns and villages since this morning… killed 100 and injured more than 400,” said a statement issued by the Lebanese health ministry, adding that “children, women and paramedics” were among the casualties.
More than 300 Hezbollah targets were hit in Lebanon on Monday, according to a post made by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the social media platform X. The Israeli army also released a picture seemingly of Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, the head of the armed forces, giving the go-ahead for more attacks from Tel Aviv's military headquarters.
The post said, “The Chief of the General Staff approves strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon from the IDF Headquarters Underground Operations Center. So far, more than 300 Hezbollah targets have been struck today.” A video of IDF jets thundering across the skies over the Sinai village in Lebanon was also shared by a pro-Israel channel on X.
Hezbollah claimed that in retaliation for IDF strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, it had targeted three locations in northern Israel, including military production facilities. “In response to the Israeli enemy attacks that targeted the south and Bekaa areas”, Hezbollah fighters bombed two military positions in northern Israel, as well as the “Rafael Defense Industries complexes” north of Haifa, the group stated in a release.
As Israeli strikes intensified on Monday, Lebanese Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced that schools in the country's east and south, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut, would close for two days. Halabi issued a statement announcing that "security and military situations" that "pose a danger to the movement of students" would force public and private schools in the area to close on Monday and Tuesday.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the leading Shiite Muslim cleric in Iraq, called on Monday for "every possible effort" to halt Israeli "aggression" against Lebanon, with a focus on the Shiite Hezbollah movement. Sistani demanded action to defend the Lebanese people and put an end to this "barbaric aggression."
A military spokesman had earlier informed the news agency AFP that "there were about 150 strikes in the morning." Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticised a "destructive plan" amid intense Israeli strikes on east and south Lebanon on Monday, shortly after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced its military strikes.
“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 urged “the United Nations and the General Assembly and influential countries… to deter the (Israeli) aggression”.
In order to care for the injured from the intense Israeli strikes, Lebanon's health ministry instructed hospitals in the east and south on Monday to cease performing any non-urgent surgery. In response to the growing Israeli aggression on Lebanon, the ministry "asks all hospitals" in districts in south and east Lebanon "to stop all non-essential surgery in order to make space to treat the wounded," according to a statement.
As fighting intensifies, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attended an evaluation of the home front's preparedness, according to The Time of Israel. “Ahead of us are days when the public will have to show composure, discipline, and full obedience” to instructions by the Home Front Command, he said.
In the early hours of Monday, the Israeli military ordered Lebanese citizens to avoid Hezbollah targets and threatened to launch more "extensive and precise" strikes against the organisation supported by Iran. In a media briefing, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated, "We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to move out of harm's way immediately for their own safety."
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