Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon killed around 274 people on Monday, local authorities said, as escalating hostilities between the two sides stoke international concern about the eruption of a full-on war.
Israeli forces struck several southern towns that included Tyre and Bint Jbeil in the northern region, saying they planned to carry out extensive air strikes on Bekka’s eastern region, Bloomberg reported.
Israel and Hezbollah have been firing rockets across the border at each other consistently since Israel’s war with Hamas began last October, but the conflict has escalated in the past week.
The U.S. is urging both sides to hold back on the fighting as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized reaching “a diplomatic solution” in speaking with Israel’s Defense Minister Yaov Gallant.
Israel is trying to take out Hezbollah’s launchers, missiles and rockets to weaken its military capabilities through an aerial campaign.
"I want to clarify Israel's policy: we do not wait for the threat, we are ahead of it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
Netanyahu said he prefers diplomacy, but it isn’t working.
His cabinet made the return of tens of thousands of displaced civilians a primary war objective last week. His cabinet is focused on this return as Gallant signaled a shifting of Israel’s focus to Hezbollah from Gaza.
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Netanyahu is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly at its summit in New York on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of people scurried to bomb shelters in northern Israel after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired150 projectiles on the area, using a new rocket that can reach as far as 60 miles and carry about 275 pounds of explosives, the group said on its Telegram channel over the weekend.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Hezbollah and Lebanon blamed Israel for blowing up thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies mostly used by Hezbollah members.
On Friday, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Aqil in an air assault on Beirut's southern suburbs.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the U.N. and world powers to stop the Israel-Hezbollah fight from "falling into the unknown."
Also on Monday, an Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar may have been wounded or killed in air strikes on Gaza, after local media reported he was recently not heard from.
The U.S. has said a Gaza cease-fire will help calm regional tensions, but Israel said it cannot wait for a truce there before eliminating the threat of Hezbollah.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the pager blasts against Hezbollah in Lebanon could signal “a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation” being carried out by Israel, Reuters reported.
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis is scheduled to visit Israel on Monday.
Price Action: Defense stocks gained into Monday’s mid-day trading.
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