• Home
• /
• World
• /
• MENA

182 killed in Israeli strikes on south, says Lebanon health ministry

More than 700 wounded with casualties including children, women and paramedics

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the south killed 182 people and wounded more than 700 on Monday, in the worst toll by far in nearly a year of cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel.

"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".

Earlier, the Israeli army announced it struck about 300 targets across Lebanon on Monday. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Monday announced that it launched "widespread" waves of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

It warned people to swiftly move away from homes used by the Iran-backed terror group to store weapons, The Times of Israel reported. The IDF said it had identified Hezbollah operatives who were preparing to conduct attacks on Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant attended an assessment on the homefront's preparedness amid widening fighting, saying, "Ahead of us are days when the public will have to show composure, discipline, and full obedience" to instructions by the Home Front Command.

As of 12:30 am, the Israeli Air Force had struck more than 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the IDF has announced. The Israeli military said that dozens of fighter jets from all the IAF's squadrons participated in the strikes, according to The Times of Israel report.

A "civilian" shepherd, was killed, and "two members of his family" and four others, were injured in the strikes in the eastern Beqaa Valley region, The Times of Israel cited a Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) report.

IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee earlier announced that strikes at houses in Lebanon in which Hezbollah was hiding weapons were "imminent."

Lebanese people were asked to immediately distance themselves from sites used by Hezbollah to store weapons. The IDF said it had sent text messages to people, as well as called them over the phone from a Lebanese phone number.

In an Arabic message to Lebanese civilians, Adraee said: "Hezbollah is lying to you and sacrificing you." "Its missiles and drones are more valuable and important to it than you are," he added, The Times of Israel reported.

People in south Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley received text messages with warnings from Israel, The Times of Israel reported, citing Lebanon's NNA. According to Lebanese media reports, warning messages were also broadcast on radio stations.