Israeli airstrikes hit Eastern and Southern Lebanon; Hezbollah responds with rocket barrage

Shafaq News/ Heavy Israeli airstrikes targeted several towns in Lebanon's Baalbek district in the east, as well as the Marjayoun and Tyre districts in the south on Monday, amid Israeli threats to extend the assault to Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that “hostile aircraft struck the area between Haur Taala and Al-Khoder” in Baalbek. The NNA also confirmed renewed Israeli air raids on villages and towns in the Tyre district, with two strikes targeting the area between Burj Rahal and Abbasiya, near the Elite School.

In Marjayoun, NNA said an Israeli airstrike hit the center of Debbin village.

In retaliation, Hezbollah launched a rocket barrage against Israeli military installations. “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza and their brave resistance, and in response to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the main storage facilities of the northern region at Nimra base with dozens of rockets,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

The Israeli military reported detecting 35 rocket launches aimed at the Carmel and Galilee regions, with most intercepted by its missile defense systems.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said it struck 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and warned residents in the south and Bekaa regions to evacuate. “We are attacking infrastructure that Hezbollah has built over the years,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said during a press briefing.

“We have struck more than 300 targets in Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah's capabilities,” Hagari stated, adding that the situation along Israel’s northern border remained tense but stable. He warned Lebanese civilians to avoid homes storing Hezbollah’s weapons, particularly in the Bekaa Valley, saying, “We will target Hezbollah's strategic weapons in the Bekaa, and civilians must evacuate.”

Hagari also said there were no immediate changes to Israel's home front instructions, but emphasized, “We are prepared to update the instructions at any time.”

The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon has risen to over 274, with more than 1,024 injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Monday. The strikes, which have hit southern regions of the country, have also triggered mass evacuations, according to Interior Minister Bassam Al-Mawlawi.

Al-Mawlawi announced that official schools and institutes are being opened to shelter those fleeing the heavy and widespread bombardment on southern Lebanon. “We are witnessing large-scale displacement from the areas under attack,” Al-Mawlawi said in a statement, urging the Internal Security Forces and other security agencies, along with local governors, to facilitate and assist the evacuees.

Schools and institutes in Mount Lebanon, particularly in the Chouf, Aley, and Baabda regions, have already begun receiving displaced families.

The evacuations and shelter operations follow a decision by Abbas Al-Halabi, Lebanon’s caretaker education minister, to suspend schools and universities nationwide on Tuesday due to the ongoing Israeli military operations.