Israel steps up bombardment of Lebanon

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Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes on southern Lebanon on Monday morning, stepping up its bombardment as the military warned civilians to evacuate and stated it could proceed to focus on websites the place it believed Hizbollah was storing weapons.

The string of strikes, which despatched towers of smoke and hearth rising throughout the hills of southern Lebanon, adopted US warnings to Israel towards taking steps that would end in an all-out battle with the Lebanese militant group.

“We advise civilians from Lebanese villages positioned in and subsequent to buildings and areas utilized by Hizbollah for navy functions, reminiscent of these used to retailer weapons, to right away transfer out of hurt’s means,” stated IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

“The Israel Protection Forces will have interaction in in depth, exact strikes, towards terror targets which have been embedded broadly all through Lebanon,” Hagari stated.

The Israeli raids marked a few of the heaviest bombardment of Hizbollah-dominated areas of southern Lebanon because the two started exchanging cross-border hearth after the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7. The escalation has stoked fears {that a} full-blown land battle could possibly be imminent, and the US on Sunday issued a stark warning to Israel towards escalating the second entrance within the north.

Requested about the opportunity of a land incursion into southern Lebanon, Hagari stated Israel would proceed to “do no matter is required” to forestall Hizbollah from having the ability to strike northern Israel and permit native residents to return to their properties.

He stated the IDF had centered its strikes on Monday morning on homes concealing Hizbollah weapons. The navy shared a video displaying the IDF hanging a constructing that gave the impression to be an odd residence in southern Lebanon. The IDF stated Hizbollah had hid a cruise missile within the constructing that was able to launch.

Sirens sounded a number of instances in a single day in northern Israel however the Hizbollah hearth was extra muted than the earlier evening, when the militant group launched about 150 rockets towards Israel, with most intercepted however some touchdown within the suburbs of the northern Israeli port metropolis of Haifa.

Hizbollah stated Sunday’s barrages have been an “preliminary” response to the mass detonations of its communications gadgets that killed 37 folks and injured greater than 3,000 throughout Lebanon. Hizbollah has blamed the gadget explosions on Israel, which has indirectly confirmed or denied duty.

John Kirby, the US Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson, warned Israel on Sunday that there have been “higher methods” to make sure Israeli residents may return to evacuated properties within the north “than a battle, than an escalation, then opening up a second entrance”.

“We don’t imagine {that a} navy battle, and we’re saying this on to our Israeli counterparts . . . we don’t imagine that escalating this navy battle is of their greatest curiosity,” Kirby informed ABC’s This Week.

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant, who has beforehand stated that after 11 months of preventing Hamas in Gaza Israel was now shifting to a “new section” within the battle, stated he had spoken to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin concerning the strikes on southern Lebanon.

“Supplied the Secretary with a state of affairs evaluation of Hizbollah threats and briefed him on IDF operations to degrade Hizbollah’s skill to launch assaults towards Israeli civilians,” Gallant stated on X. “We additionally mentioned the broader regional state of affairs and the threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”