Israeli warnings and air strikes on Lebanon raise fears of regional escalation into full-scale war.
Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon have killed at least 100 people and wounded more than 400, Lebanese health officials said.
The Israeli army said on Monday that it had launched more than 300 air strikes at sites used by the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Increased hostilities raise fear of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah or even a wider regional flare-up. Children, women, medics among casualties of Lebanon’s attacks: ministry
Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, in a statement, said that children, women, and medics were among the victims of the air attacks.
The warning came just hours after the military said that civilians in the areas it claims that Lebanon’s Hezbollah is using should move away; on Sunday, Hezbollah launched a barrage of missiles into northern Israel.
Escalation of fighting along the shared border follows last week’s explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies that killed dozens in Lebanon since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October.
On Monday morning, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the army had conducted “extensive strikes” against Hezbollah posts after identifying attempts to fire missiles.
Israel’s government recently declared that it was shifting more focus on the fighting with Hezbollah in a bid to allow the 60,000 or so Israelis evacuated from the border areas to return.
