Massive Israeli missile strike targeting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon killed at least 247 people and left more than 1,000 wounded on Monday, September 23, in a renewed escalation.
The latest attack on 300 Hezbollah targets by Israel Defense Forces comes after its military chiefs vowed tougher actions against the Iran-backed terror group, which has been amping up its own assaults on the Jewish state.
Monday’s strike by Israel also was the first time in the deadly back-and-forth that the IDF issued a warning in southern Lebanon for residents to evacuate in the face of “extensive strikes.”
In response to the missiles, Hezbollah fired a series of long-range weapons from Lebanon, another first in the conflict, according to the Israeli military.
The IDF said its airstrikes were specifically aimed at taking out Hezbollah rocket facilities after the terror group’s attack Sunday saw around 150 rockets, missiles and drones fired at Israel.
“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” read Israel’s warning message Monday to Lebanon’s civilians, according to Lebanese media.
Reports quickly emerged of a mass exodus in Lebanon where Israel launched its airstrikes, with AP reporters noting that some of the missiles went far beyond the border area.
One of the airstrikes allegedly hit the northeastern regions of Baalbek and Hermel, where a shepherd was killed along with two relatives, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Another missile hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 81 miles north of the border, the first time in the conflict that an Israeli missile reached the province.
The Lebanese Health Ministry slammed the latest series of strikes as a sign that Israel was “expanding aggression on Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s information minister, Ziad Makary, added that the evacuation warnings from Israel were tantamount to “psychological war” on the Lebanese people.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari stood by the airstrikes, claiming that video of secondary explosions after the blasts were evidence enough that the missiles did in fact hit Hezbollah weapons depots.
“Every home we struck, there are rockets, drones, missiles, which were intended to kill Israeli civilians,” Hagari said.
The daily strikes between the IDF and Hezbollah have caused tens of thousands of people to flee northern Israel and southern Lebanon, with the attacks intensifying in recent weeks.
The battles have resulted in the deaths of 22 IDF soldiers and 26 Israeli civilians, along with 506 Hezbollah operatives, according to officials from both nations.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah reached a boiling point after thousands of pagers, radios and other electronic devices used by members of the terror group detonated last week in attacks that were blamed on Israel.
