Israel – Hezbollah exchange fire

Israel’s military hit dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight, a day after it launched a wave of airstrikes against the Iran-backed group’s sites in Lebanon. It was the heaviest strike in years.
Hezbollah said it had attacked several Israeli military targets, including an explosives factory 60 km into Israel and the Megiddo airfield, with a series of rockets.

It seems that, after almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, also backed by Iran.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah militant cell and its artillery and tanks hit other Hezbollah targets in the south. Police in northern Israel said fragments of interceptor missiles were found in various areas.

Lebanese authorities said Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday had killed nearly 500 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.

Israel warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said Hezbollah was storing weapons.
According to local sources, in Lebanon, highways north were gridlocked.

The Lebanese minister coordinating the crisis response, Nasser Yassin, told Reuters 89 temporary shelters in schools and other facilities had been set up, with the capacity for more than 26,000 people.

Israel’s military said it struck Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, east and north, including rocket launchers, command posts and militant infrastructure.

The Israeli Air Force said it struck about 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 492 people had been killed, including 35 children, and 1,645 wounded. One Lebanese official said it was Lebanon’s highest daily death toll from violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.