Israeli airstrikes hit more than 1,300 targets in southern Lebanon as the military expanded its conflict against Hezbollah, Israeli Defense Forces said Monday. The strikes killed nearly 500 people and wounded more than 1,600, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said.
Israel said it also launched a strike on a target in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, injuring at least six people, according to Lebanese state media.
The target of that strike, a Hezbollah senior commander, survived, the terror group said. IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warned there would be more Israeli strikes against Hezbollah’s "terrorist infrastructure" on the Lebanese border and elsewhere. Hagari said the IDF intended to begin targeting another Hezbollah stronghold in the eastern Bekaa valley.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "For those who have not yet understood, I want to clarify Israel's policy — we do not wait for a threat, we anticipate it."
He added, "Everywhere, in every arena, at any time. We eliminate senior officials, eliminate terrorists, eliminate missiles — and our hands are bent.
"Whoever tries to hurt us, we hurt him even more," he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X that the country would "act with full force" against Hezbollah, adding that the terror group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, "has taken the people of Lebanon hostage, placing missiles and weapons in their homes and villages to threaten Israel's civilians."
"This is a clear war crime," Katz said. "We will not accept this reality."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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