Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon following the death toll reaching 492

Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon following the death toll reaching 492

Israel carried out numerous airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Tuesday, following a deadly assault the previous day that claimed 492 lives, including 35 children, marking the deadliest attack since the 2006 war.

The overnight strikes targeted southern Lebanon after Israel reported killing a "large number" of militants by hitting around 1,600 suspected Hezbollah positions across the country.

In response, Hezbollah launched missile attacks on Israeli military bases, shortly after 180 of its projectiles and a drone breached Israeli airspace, causing panic in the city of Haifa.

The Israeli military reported over 50 projectiles fired into northern Israel within 10 minutes on Tuesday morning, most of which were intercepted.

Lebanon’s health ministry stated that Monday's raids left 492 dead, including 35 children and 58 women, and injured 1,645, with "thousands of families" displaced.

"People are rushing to Beirut with their children and belongings—it's the first time we've seen such panic since 2006," said Lebanese journalist Nazir Reda, who was driving to his hometown near the Israeli border to evacuate his family from the violence.

Hezbollah and Israel, longtime adversaries, have engaged in nearly daily cross-border skirmishes for almost a year since the onset of the war in Gaza last October.

Monday's airstrikes on Lebanon were the most intense not only in the past year but also since the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in the summer of 2006, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, primarily soldiers, while devastating many of Hezbollah's strongholds.

Israel has labeled its extensive attacks on Hezbollah as "Operation Northern Arrows," having announced earlier this month a shift in its military focus from Gaza to Lebanon.

World leaders have voiced concern over the rapid escalation in Lebanon, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson expressing serious alarm and the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell warning that "we are on the brink of a full-scale war."

France and Egypt have urged the United Nations Security Council to take action, while Iraq has called for an urgent meeting of Arab nations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Pentagon announced it would send a small number of additional U.S. military personnel to the Middle East, following the earlier deployment of thousands alongside warships, fighter jets, and air defense systems.

A U.S. official, who requested anonymity while speaking at the assembly, stated that Washington is against an Israeli ground invasion targeting Hezbollah and has "concrete ideas" for de-escalating the situation.

G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement declaring that "no country stands to gain" from escalating tensions and warned of "unimaginable consequences" if a regional conflict were to erupt.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the United Nations and global powers to deter what he described as Israel's "plan to destroy Lebanese villages and towns." He announced the cancellation of a scheduled cabinet meeting to travel to New York for further discussions with world leaders aimed at halting the violence.