Lebanon shaken by Israeli attack, death toll reaches 492; 1600 Hezbollah hideouts razed

Lebanon| The death toll from Monday’s deadly Israeli army offensive in Lebanon has reached 492. These include more than 90 women and children. This is the worst attack since the Israel-Hizbullah war in the year 2006. The Israeli military had warned residents of southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate as part of its massive airstrike against Hezbollah.

Thousands of Lebanese citizens began migrating from the south and the main highway passing through the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars headed to Beirut. This was the largest exodus since 2006. Lebanon’s health ministry said the attacks killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and injured 1,645 people. The country had not yet recovered from the deadly attack on communication equipment that took place last week when this deadly attack was carried out. The death toll from this attack far exceeds Beirut’s devastating port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded. At least 218 people had been killed and over 6,000 injured in the incident.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded message to Lebanese citizens in reference to the message to evacuate the area, ‘‘Take this warning seriously.’’ Netanyahu said, ‘‘please get away from the danger now. You can safely go back to your respective homes once our campaign is over.’’ Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military would do whatever was necessary to expel Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel. Hagari claimed Hezbollah was heavily damaged by widespread airstrikes on Monday. He said, ‘‘we don’t want war. We want to eliminate threats. We will do whatever it takes to accomplish this mission. We hope to get it done as soon as possible.’’