Strikes hit Lebanon again after deadliest day in nearly 20 years

The Israeli military has started another round of airstrikes in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported on Tuesday. On Monday, Lebanon saw its deadliest day in nearly two decades.

Lebanon faced renewed Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, following a devastating day of violence that marked the deadliest escalation in the region in nearly two decades.

“Hostile airstrikes resumed on Baalbek and its surrounding areas, targeting Al-Tal Al-Abyad district at the northern entrance of Baalbek, the town of Talia, and the outskirts of Shamstar,” state news agency NNA said. 

On Monday, nearly 500 people were killed in intense bombardments in Lebanon, heightening fears of a broader regional conflict. Israel's military said it struck 1,600 Hezbollah assets, including cruise missiles, rockets and explosive warheads that were supposedly stored in civilian homes. 

International concern

Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel overnight and struck the Ramat David airbase, Meggido airfield and the Amos base, all in the vicinity of the town of Afula in northern Israel.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ha snot ruled out the possibility of a ground invasion, has told people in Lebanon to leave the areas where Israel is targeting Hezbollah. Many have fled their homes after receiving evacuation messages.

The international community is increasingly concerned about the growing humanitarian toll and the risk of a wider war. On Monday, France called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss Israel’s activity in Lebanon as Iran’s president accused the country of dragging the region into an “irreversible” war. 

^{A man inspects debris at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a house in the southern Lebanese village of Akbiyeh © PHOTO MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP}