International Lebanon: Almost 500 dead in Israeli attacks

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the number of victims of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon has risen to 492 dead and 1,645 injured. In the attacks in the south and east of the country since Monday morning, 35 children have also been killed.

The conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militia has thus escalated massively.

It is the highest death toll in Lebanon since Hezbollah's war with Israel in 2006, when more than 1,200 people were killed on the Lebanese side and more than 160 soldiers and civilians on the Israeli side. It is also the highest number of casualties in Lebanon since the beginning of the war-like clashes between Israel and Hezbollah almost a year ago as a result of the Gaza war. According to official figures, thousands of families in Lebanon have also been displaced by the fighting.

Some had been hit by the attacks while fleeing in their cars, said Health Minister Firass Abiad. Schools were turned into emergency shelters to accommodate displaced people. Many were trying to get from the south to northern parts of the country on crowded roads.

According to the Israeli military, it attacked more than 1,300 targets in Lebanon - the attacks continued on Monday evening in the south and east of the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a message directly to the Lebanese people: "Israel's war is not with you, but with Hezbollah", he said. Israel's army gave the operation the code name "Arrows of the North".

According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah fired more than 250 missiles at civilian areas in Israel. Some of them were intercepted by the missile defense system, others hit open areas. There were initially no reports of casualties or damage to property in Israel.

Following the massive airstrikes in Lebanon, the Israeli government decided to declare a nationwide state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory strikes. According to media reports, the decision means, among other things, that the size of gatherings can be restricted. Until now, Israel has been attacking Lebanon on a massive scale from the air and with artillery across the border, but there are no Israeli troops in Lebanon.

Israel claims to have destroyed "tens of thousands of rockets" from the enemy during attacks

According to Defense Minister Joav Galant, "tens of thousands of rockets" from Hezbollah that "threatened Israel's citizens" were destroyed in the attacks. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi explained that the military was attacking the infrastructure built up by Hezbollah over the past 20 years for its fight. "This is very significant", he emphasized. Israel is attacking targets and preparing "the next phases" of the battle, about which he said he would say more shortly. It remained unclear which next steps he was referring to.

On October 7, 2023, terrorists from Hamas, which is allied with Hezbollah, and other extremist groups killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and abducted around 250 others as hostages in the Gaza Strip. This was the trigger for the Gaza war. Since then, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel with rockets on an almost daily basis. Israel wants to push Hezbollah out of the border area again in order to guarantee the safety of its citizens in the north and to enable the return of displaced persons.

Lebanon accuses Israel of a "war of annihilation"

The Lebanese government accused Israel of "a war of annihilation in every sense of the word" in view of the attacks. "We as a government are working to stop this new war by Israel and prevent a descent into the unknown," said caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Israel's military also carried out an airstrike in the Lebanese capital Beirut. According to unconfirmed Israeli media reports, the target was the Hezbollah commander responsible for the southern front, Ali Karaki. Hezbollah stated after the attack that Karaki was "in good health" and had been taken to a safe place. The militia thus contradicted media reports that had reported his death. Karaki is to succeed the high-ranking military commander Ibrahim Akil, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

Air strikes also in the north-eastern Bekaa Valley

Following the intensive bombardments in the south by Israel's air force, positions in the Bekaa Plain in north-eastern Lebanon were also attacked in the afternoon, according to security sources. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at positions in northern Israel. Among other things, the militia targeted defense industry facilities near the port city of Haifa as well as military bases. Long-range rockets were also used.

Israel warns civilian population in Lebanon

Previously, there had been reports of warnings to the civilian population in Lebanon via so-called robot calls with pre-recorded messages or text messages. Until further notice, people should stay away from villages in whose buildings Hezbollah weapons are stored. The Lebanese Ministry of Information described the action as "psychological warfare" by Israel.

Israel's army had already expanded its attacks in the neighboring country in recent days. There were also dozens of dead and injured. The army has so far evaded questions as to whether a ground offensive by the military is also possible. In the event of an invasion by Israeli troops in Lebanon, an even greater involvement of allied Hezbollah militias in the region or Iran could not be ruled out.

Panic in the south of Lebanon

Around 150,000 people on both sides of the border have been forced to leave their homes. The war-like conflict has intensified once again following the explosion of thousands of communication devices in Lebanon and an Israeli attack on the Hezbollah leadership near Beirut last week, which left more than 50 people dead, including civilians.

Citizens were in panic following the recent airstrikes in the south of Lebanon. Residents told the German Press Agency that many people were fleeing the suburbs of the southern city of Tyros, among others. Some rushed to the center of the coastal city and to the UN observer mission Unifil compound there. The streets were filled with cars of people who apparently wanted to drive towards Beirut or other places in the north of the country. There were traffic jams on the roads.

There was "panic and chaos", eyewitnesses reported. In the coastal town of Sidon, which lies roughly halfway between Tyre and Beirut, traffic came to a complete standstill at times. Drivers shared videos on social media showing masses of Lebanese driving north.

Hezbollah more heavily armed today than in the war 20 years ago

Israel and Hezbollah have already waged war against each other in 1982 and 2006. The Iranian-backed militia is much more heavily armed today than during the war almost 20 years ago. It claims to be acting in solidarity with the Islamist Hamas, which is fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran.

Israel has recently reduced the number of its attacks in the Gaza Strip and is increasingly concentrating on Hezbollah. Israel wants the militia to withdraw behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border - as stipulated by UN Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the war in 2006. According to the resolution, Hezbollah is not allowed to be present along the border. However, neither the UN observer mission nor the Lebanese army are enforcing this. Israel has declared the return of its residents to their homes in the north to be one of its goals in the Gaza war, which began with the Hamas terror attack on October 7 last year.

SDA