Lebanon: At least 356 killed and more than 1,000 injured as Israel escalates attack on Hezbollah targets | World news

According to the country's health minister, at least 356 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, including 21 children.

Israel attacked hundreds of Hezbollah targets on Monday in LebanonIt was the deadliest day since October 7. According to reports, 39 women were also killed and 1,246 people injured.

After the fall of Hezbollah by Pager and radio explosions Last week, the Israeli military called on residents to evacuate areas where the militant group allegedly stored weapons, with security sources assuming the bombs were detonated by Israel.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was facing “difficult days” as it stepped up attacks on Hezbollah, which has also fired rockets at Israel and ordered the evacuation of more than 60,000 people, Israelis said.

“I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of power in the north – and that is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said, as the Israeli military announced that it was also targeting the capital Beirut.

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had previously stated that the actions would continue until “we have achieved our goal of returning the residents of the north safely to their homes” – and Hezbollah had promised to fight until there was a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it had attacked around 800 targets linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister described the Israeli air strikes as “genocide in the truest sense of the word.”

Najib Mikati told a cabinet meeting in Beirut that Israeli air strikes were aimed at destroying Lebanese towns and villages.

During the nearly year-long cross-border exchange between Israel and Hezbollah, 160,000 Lebanese have already been expelled from the south. The authorities reported “serious displacement” on Monday.

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Imad Kreidieh, head of Lebanese telecommunications company Ogero, told Reuters on Monday that more than 80,000 automated calls had been discovered on the network urging people to leave their areas.

The fighting has raised fears that the United States, a close ally of Israel, and Iran could be drawn into a broader war in the Middle East.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of seeking a major war in the Middle East and setting “traps” to lead his country into a larger conflict.