Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 492 people, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate locations where it says Hezbollah is storing weapons.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, blocking the main road to Beirut. At least 1,645 people were injured in the attacks, the Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said it struck more than 1,300 targets linked to Hezbollah weapons sites on Monday. It added that it was expanding its operation to areas in the Bekaa Valley along Lebanon’s eastern border.
Residents of various villages in southern Lebanon have posted photos on social media showing what they say are their towns being hit.
The wave of airstrikes came a day after Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets at northern Israel, some landing near the city of Haifa.
The Hezbollah rockets were in response to an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday that killed a senior Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen members of the group, as well as civilians, including women and children.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.