Israel struck targets in southern Lebanon Tuesday and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel as violence spilled over into a second day.
The sharp escalation in hostilities is increasing fears of a full-blown conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in decades on Monday.
Lebanese authorities said Israeli air strikes killed 558 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.
Israel’s military said it hit dozens of Hezbollah targets and Hezbollah also said it was targeting Israeli military facilities, including an explosives factory 60 km (37 miles) into Israel, which it attacked with Fadi rockets around 4 a.m. (0100 GMT).
It said it also attacked the Megiddo airfield (near the ancient historical site of Armageddon) three separate times overnight.
Shifting focus to the north
After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel said it is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said it was targeting Hezbollah, not the Lebanese people, and that Israel would no longer tolerate rockets landing in northern Israel, and residents having to leave their homes there.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands are fleeing southern Lebanon ‘due to Israeli atrocities’, said Lebanese minister Nasser Yassin.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the campaign would continue until “we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes”.
The escalation has rattled world leaders and humanitarian officials however.
Broader Conflict
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major democracies said the Middle East risked being dragged into a broader conflict that no country would gain from.
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk’s office said on Tuesday it was “extremely alarmed” by the worsening hostilities.
A World Health Organization official in Lebanon said some hospitals there were “overwhelmed” by thousands of wounded. And UNICEF said at least 35 children had been killed in the air strikes on Lebanon, with more still missing under the rubble.
Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati’s office said he would fly to New York, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place, “for further contacts”.
Nearly a full-fledged war in Lebanon, EU’s Borrell says
Earlier, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said that the escalation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is almost a full-fledged war.
“This situation is extremely dangerous and worrying. I can say that we are almost in a full-fledged war,” Josep Borrell told reporters.
“If this is not a war situation, I don’t know what you would call it,” he said, citing the increasing number of civilian casualties and the intensity of military strikes.
Borrell said efforts to reduce tensions were ongoing, but Europe’s worst fears about a spillover were becoming a reality.
He said civilians were paying a high price and all diplomatic efforts were needed to prevent a full-blown war.
“Here in New York is the moment to do that. Everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this path to war,” he said.
Lebanon says 492 people killed
Israel’s military said it launched airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon on Monday, which Lebanese authorities said had killed 492 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety in the country’s deadliest day in decades.
After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since hostilities flared in October, Israel warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said the armed movement was storing weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a short video statement addressed to the Lebanese people.
“Israel’s war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah. For too long Hezbollah has been using you as human shields,” he said.
Families from south Lebanon loaded cars, vans and trucks with belongings and people, sometimes multiple generations in one vehicle. As bombs rained down, children crammed onto parents’ laps and suitcases were tied to car roofs.
Highways north were gridlocked. “I grabbed all the important papers and we got out. Strikes all around us. It was terrifying,” said Abed Afou, who was with his family, including three sons aged 6 to 13 and several other relatives. They sat in traffic as it crawled north.
After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, also backed by Iran.
Israel’s military said it struck Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, east and north, including “launchers, command posts and terrorist infrastructure.” The Israeli Air Force struck about 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, it said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 492 people had been killed, including 35 children, and 1,645 wounded. One Lebanese official said it was Lebanon’s highest daily death toll from violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The fighting has raised fears that the U.S., Israel’s close ally, and Iran will be sucked into a wider war.
Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern on Monday and urged all parties to exercise restraint, state news agency SPA reported.
Via Reuters
