Lebanon: Over 490 killed in Israel's biggest offensive against Hezbollah since Gaza war

Israel on Monday (September 23) mounted a fresh offensive against Hezbollah, killing more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, Lebanese authorities said, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

The Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah.

Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006, said an AP report.

Kids, women among dead

Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people.

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,” Netanyahu said. “Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”

According to news agency AP, Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Extensive damage

Hagari claimed Monday’s widespread airstrikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah. But he would not give a timeline for the 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.”

Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone. “Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone,” he told a news conference.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.

Backing Palestinians

Minor clashes and skirmishes were a daily affair along Israel's northern border with Lebanon as Hezbollah continued to launch hundreds of rockets into Israel on a daily basis. The group said its actions are in solidarity with the people of Palestine surviving Israel's brutal military campaign in Gaza.

Tensions escalated in August as Hezbollah launched rockets and drones in retaliation for Israel killing its top commander Faud Shukr in July. On Sunday, the militant group launched more than 100 rockets again as it declared an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with Israel after hundreds of pagers and radios exploded across Lebanon in serial explosions.

Lebanon blamed Israel and its top spy agency Mossad for the incident targeting Hezbollah members.

Israel had claimed that diplomatic efforts to stop Hezbollah's attacks are failing, and an all-out war might be the only way to stop the attacks on its northern borders and enable citizens to return to their homes.