Israeli airstrikes kill at least 274 in Lebanon as US plans to send more troops to Middle East

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes on Monday killed more than 270 Lebanese in the deadliest raid since Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah. The Israeli military warned residents of southern and eastern Lebanon to flee their homes ahead of an intensifying air campaign against Hezbollah.

Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and a main highway from the southern port city of Sidon was clogged with cars heading toward Beirut in the largest exodus since fighting in 2006. More than 1,000 others were wounded in the attacks — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from last week’s deadly attack on communications facilities.

The death toll exceeded that caused by the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded, killing at least 218 people and injuring more than 6,000.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told a news conference in Beirut that the strikes had hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. The government ordered schools and universities closed in much of the country and began preparing shelters for people displaced from the south.

The Israeli military said it had struck about 800 targets, saying it was targeting Hezbollah weapons storage sites. Some of the strikes hit residential areas in cities in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley. One strike hit a forested area as far away as Byblos in central Lebanon, more than 80 miles from the border north of Beirut.

The military said it was expanding airstrikes to cover areas of the valley along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the valley, where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reiterated warnings urging residents to immediately evacuate from areas where Hezbollah stores weapons, including the valley. The warnings left open the possibility that some residents could be living in or near the targeted structures without knowing they pose a threat.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired dozens of rockets into Israel, including at military bases. On a second day, it also attacked facilities of the Haifa-based defense company Rafael.

While Israel was carrying out the attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of alert signals in northern Israel warning of rocket fire from Lebanon.

The evacuation warnings were the first of their kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah fired some 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for attacks that killed a senior commander and dozens of fighters.

The increasingly frequent attacks and counterattacks have raised fears of all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip and tries to return dozens of hostages taken in an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Hezbollah has vowed to continue attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, another Iranian-backed militant group. Israel says it is determined to restore calm to its northern border.

Associated Press journalists from southern Lebanon reported that intensive airstrikes took place on Monday morning in many areas, including those far from the border.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the attacks hit a forested area in the central Byblos province, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) north of the Israel-Lebanon border, the first since fighting began in October.

Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern regions of Baalbek and Hermel, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, according to the news agency. A total of 30 people were reported wounded in the attacks.

The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 274. It asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be performed later. The ministry said in a statement that its request was aimed at keeping hospitals ready to receive those injured in the wake of “Israel’s spreading aggression against Lebanon.”

An Israeli military official said Israel was focusing on air operations and had no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the strikes were aimed at limiting Hezbollah’s ability to carry out further attacks on Israel.

Lebanese media reported that residents had received text messages urging them to leave buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons until further notice.

“If you are in a building where Hezbollah weapons are stored, please leave the village until further notice,” the message read in Arabic, Lebanese media reported.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said in a statement that his office in Beirut received a recorded message ordering people to leave the building.

“This is part of the psychological warfare waged by the enemy,” Makary said, calling on people “not to give this matter more attention than it deserves.”

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have been largely deserted by near-daily exchanges of fire.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of turning entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead the Israeli military to carry out an especially heavy bombing campaign even if no ground forces intervene.

The military said it had struck more than 150 combat targets on Monday morning. Residents of various villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media of the airstrikes and large plumes of smoke. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes in various areas.

On Friday, an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen fighters, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communication devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in various parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any responsibility.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after the Oct. 7 attack, in what it said was an attempt to pressure Israeli forces to help Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict has steadily escalated over the past year.

The fighting has left hundreds dead in Lebanon, dozens more in Israel, and tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border displaced.

Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah away from the border so its citizens can return to their homes, saying it prefers to do so diplomatically but is willing to use force. Hezbollah has said it will continue attacks until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, but that seems increasingly elusive as the war approaches its anniversary.

Hamas-led militants entered southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 captives remain held in the Gaza Strip, a third of them presumed dead, after most of the rest were freed during a week-long ceasefire in November.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its statistics. It says women and children make up just over half of those killed. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.