Lebanon says Israeli strikes killed 356, including 24 children; deadliest since 2006
Public Lokpal
September 24, 2024
Lebanon says Israeli strikes killed 356, including 24 children; deadliest since 2006
JERUSALEM: Israeli strikes on Monday killed more than 350 Lebanese in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said 24 children were killed and over 1000 wounded in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict started in October.
"Israeli enemy strikes on southern towns and villages since this morning" have killed "182 people and wounded 727 others", the health ministry said, with casualties including "children, women and paramedics".
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 the 2006 fighting.
More than 700 other people were wounded in the strikes — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
The government ordered schools and universities to close Tuesday across most of the country and began preparing shelters for people displaced from the south.
The Israeli military announced that it hit some 300 targets Monday, saying it was going after Hezbollah weapons sites. Some strikes hit in residential areas of towns in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. One strike hit a wooded area as far away as Byblos in central Lebanon, more than 80 miles from the border north of Beirut.
AP
