Israel launched hundreds of air strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the deadliest day of the cross-border conflict since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, according to the country's health ministry.
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More than 1,645 people were wounded in the strikes, the Health Ministry said, a staggering one-day toll for the country.
Hamas's military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said that its field commander in southern Lebanon, Mahmoud al Nader, was also killed in the Israeli strikes last night.
In a recorded message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying "take this warning seriously."
"Please get out of harm's way now," Mr Netanyahu said.
"Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes."
Israel's military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the army will do "whatever is necessary" to push Hezbollah from Lebanon's border with Israel.
Rear Admiral Hagari claimed Monday's widespread air strikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah.
But he would not give a timeline for the ongoing operation and said Israel was prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon if needed.
"We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats," he said.
"We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission."
Residents in Lebanon flee, as others refuse to leave despite danger
Families from south Lebanon loaded cars, vans and trucks with belongings and people, sometimes multiple generations in one vehicle.
As bombs rained down, children crammed onto parents' laps and suitcases were tied to car roofs and highways north were gridlocked.
"I grabbed all the important papers and we got out. Strikes all around us. It was terrifying," said Abed Afou who was with his family, including three sons aged six to 13 and several other relatives.
People carrying small bundles of belongings trekked northward on the beach near the Lebanese town of Tyre.
Nasser Yassin, the Lebanese minister coordinating the crisis response, told Reuters 89 temporary shelters in schools and other facilities had been activated, with capacity for more than 26,000 people as civilians fled "Israeli atrocities".
Not everyone is leaving, however.
In the southern Lebanon town of Marjayoun, that lies less than 10 kilometres from the border with Israel, some residents are refusing to leave, despite the danger.
"The situation here is not good," says one of the town's remaining residents, Raymond Youssef.
"We don't want to leave, even if it gets much worse. And to leave, where to?
"Our home is best for us. I will never consider leaving."
Marjayoun is a predominantly Christian village, and not an area known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
But families there have spent the day watching, and listening, as Israeli bombs have been dropped, non-stop, around them.
"We watch the villages around us, and we feel for the sufferings of all the people," Raymond says.
Intense barrages of air strikes
Rear Admiral Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.
The military spokesman said Israeli warplanes struck 1,300 Hezbollah targets on Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones.
He said many were hidden in residential areas, showing photos of what he said were weapons hidden in private homes.
"Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone," he told a news conference.
Earlier Monday evening, the Israeli military said it had carried out a targeted strike in Beirut but did not give details.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported three missiles hit southern Beirut's Beir al-Abed neighbourhood.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said six people were wounded.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the earlier strikes hit hospitals, medical centres and ambulances.
The government ordered schools and universities to close across most of the country and begin preparing shelters for the displaced.
Some strikes hit residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
US doesn’t believe Israeli escalation with Hezbollah will yield de-escalation
The United States does not think Israeli escalation to force Hezbollah to reduce tensions will yield the desired outcome of de-escalation, a senior State Department official said on Monday, effectively disagreeing with Israel's strategy.
The conflict is a key focus for Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week, where Washington had concrete ideas to prevent a broader war and would seek an "off ramp" to the tensions, the official told reporters in New York.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million have been displaced in nearly a year of warfare as Israeli air and artillery strikes have reduced much of the Palestinian enclave to rubble.
More than 41,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The war, the deadliest bout in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was triggered on October 7, 2023 when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
ABC/wires
