BEIRUT: Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 31 people and wounded 149 others, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Monday, as Israel signalled it would intensify operations following rocket fire by Hezbollah.
In a statement, the ministry said “Israeli enemy raids” targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas in southern Lebanon “have resulted, in an initial count, in the killing of 31 citizens and the wounding of 149 citizens.”
Israel’s military said it was responding to rocket launches from Lebanon and warned of broader strikes if cross-border attacks continued. The escalation raises concerns of a wider confrontation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier, which has seen repeated flare-ups in recent months.
An AFP journalist heard several loud explosions in Beirut early on Monday, the Israeli military said it had “begun striking targets of the Hezbollah — across Lebanon.
Residents in southern Lebanon fled in cars, some with mattresses tied to the roof, an AFP journalist saw, after Israel issued a mass evacuation warning.
The Israeli strikes followed rocket and drone launches from Lebanon, the first attack on Israel claimed by Hezbollah since a November 2024 ceasefire agreement that followed more than a year of war between them.
Hezbollah has been weakened from conflict with Israel, which it entered to support Hamas following the Palestinian group’s attack on Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent strikes by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has carried out regular strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect, usually saying it targets Hezbollah and accusing it of truce violations.
On Monday, a military statement said Israeli forces “precisely struck” senior Hezbollah members in the Beirut area, and another in the south.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes across the country, including in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway.
Israel then issued a warning to residents of about 50 towns and villages in Lebanon’s south and east — both Hezbollah strongholds.
“Hezbollah’s actions force the IDF (army) to act against it… For your safety, evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) away from your village to open areas,” army spokeswoman Ella Waweya said in a statement on X.
Hezbollah earlier claimed responsibility for the rocket and drone attack on Israel, which it said was retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a wave of US-Israeli strikes on Tehran at the weekend.
It was also “in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the repeated Israeli attacks”, Hezbollah said.
The Israeli military said that “several projectiles” fired from Lebanon on Monday “fell in open areas”, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
About three hours later, air raid sirens warning of an incoming drone in parts of Israel’s north.
“Hezbollah opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation,” military chief Eyal Zamir said, according to a statement.
Lebanon’s NNA reported “major displacement” from Beirut’s southern suburbs and the country’s south, near the Israeli border, as residents tried to escape the areas.
Footage on local media showed roads filled with cars leaving the southern suburbs.
The bombardment comes as Israel widens the regional conflict following the massive joint Israel–US assault on Iran that President Donald Trump said was aimed at toppling Tehran’s ruling clerical establishment.
The United States expanded its campaign across Iran, with the Pentagon confirming hundreds of targets had been hit under what Washington calls “Operation Epic Fury.”
