Beirut/Tel Aviv, 24 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Almost 500 people have been killed and more than 1,600 injured across southern and eastern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said in Beirut on Monday, as Israel launched its deadliest wave of airstrikes at the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia in decades.

As the war in Gaza approaches its first anniversary, the long-feared escalation of the Middle Eastern conflict appeared to have arrived, with Lebanese authorities reporting at least 492 people dead, including 35 children, and another 1,645 wounded.

Israel said it had carried out more than 1,300 attacks on targets in Lebanon, including one in the capital Beirut, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a pre-emptive strike aimed at eliminating Hezbollah's weaponry.

Netanyahu said that Hezbollah had concealed its rockets directed at Israeli cities in private living rooms. "To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out these weapons," he said.

"I have a message for the people of Lebanon: Israel's war is not with you. It's with Hezbollah," he added. "For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields."

In response, the Shiite group said it had launched dozens of rockets at bases in the north of Israel, targeting Israeli armaments facilities near the key port of Haifa and a military base in Galilee. There were no initial reports of injury or damage in Israel.

The Lebanese government accused Israel of "a war of annihilation" in view of the attacks. "We as a government are working to stop this new war by Israel and prevent a descent into the unknown," said Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Photo: EPA