01:59Tens of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon continued to flee their villages and cities towards the capital Beirut, as ongoing Israeli airstrikes left at least 492 people killed, according to authorities.
Footage from the city of Saida, the centre of the South governorate, shows hundreds of cars stuck in heavy traffic despite both lanes being open for one-way traffic towards Beirut. The footage also shows citizens carrying luggage in their cars, and some distributing water to those who had waited for hours in their cars.
"This day shocked us all, we never expected a day like this to pass," one displaced man said.
The displacement is the largest in southern Lebanon since 2006 - which saw Hezbollah kidnap two Israeli soldiers, leading to a 33-day military operation by the Israeli army.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces said they had launched ‘intensive and precise strikes against 'terrorist targets' widely planted throughout Lebanon', calling on civilians in villages of Southern Lebanon and Bekaa Valley to ‘immediately stay away from areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes.' The IDF named the operation "Northern Arrows".
Lebanon's Ministry of Health announced that 492 people had been killed and 1645 wounded in Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the ministry's latest report as of press time.
The official Lebanese News Agency reported that several villages in the districts of Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Hasbaya, Jezzine, West Bekaa and Bekaa Governorate were targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Northern Corps reserve headquarters, the Galilee Division reserve base and its logistics warehouses at Ami’ad base, Rafael's military-industrial complex in the Zovulun area north of Haifa, and the main warehouses of the Northern District at Nimra base. Israeli media reported that Hezbollah has fired more than 200 rockets at northern Israel since Monday morning.
Tensions in southern Lebanon have escalated over the past week following the mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios used by Hezbollah and the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which killed the group’s senior commander Ibrahim Aqil, along with 60 others. On Sunday morning, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on areas near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
The Israeli army has been exchanging cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, Lebanese and Palestinian factions since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.
Tens of thousands evacuate to Beirut as intense Israeli airstrikes claims 492 lives
Tens of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon continued to flee their villages and cities towards the capital Beirut, as ongoing Israeli airstrikes left at least 492 people killed, according to authorities.
Footage from the city of Saida, the centre of the South governorate, shows hundreds of cars stuck in heavy traffic despite both lanes being open for one-way traffic towards Beirut. The footage also shows citizens carrying luggage in their cars, and some distributing water to those who had waited for hours in their cars.
"This day shocked us all, we never expected a day like this to pass," one displaced man said.
The displacement is the largest in southern Lebanon since 2006 - which saw Hezbollah kidnap two Israeli soldiers, leading to a 33-day military operation by the Israeli army.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces said they had launched ‘intensive and precise strikes against 'terrorist targets' widely planted throughout Lebanon', calling on civilians in villages of Southern Lebanon and Bekaa Valley to ‘immediately stay away from areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes.' The IDF named the operation "Northern Arrows".
Lebanon's Ministry of Health announced that 492 people had been killed and 1645 wounded in Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the ministry's latest report as of press time.
The official Lebanese News Agency reported that several villages in the districts of Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Hasbaya, Jezzine, West Bekaa and Bekaa Governorate were targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Northern Corps reserve headquarters, the Galilee Division reserve base and its logistics warehouses at Ami’ad base, Rafael's military-industrial complex in the Zovulun area north of Haifa, and the main warehouses of the Northern District at Nimra base. Israeli media reported that Hezbollah has fired more than 200 rockets at northern Israel since Monday morning.
Tensions in southern Lebanon have escalated over the past week following the mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios used by Hezbollah and the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which killed the group’s senior commander Ibrahim Aqil, along with 60 others. On Sunday morning, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on areas near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
The Israeli army has been exchanging cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, Lebanese and Palestinian factions since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.
Tens of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon continued to flee their villages and cities towards the capital Beirut, as ongoing Israeli airstrikes left at least 492 people killed, according to authorities.
Footage from the city of Saida, the centre of the South governorate, shows hundreds of cars stuck in heavy traffic despite both lanes being open for one-way traffic towards Beirut. The footage also shows citizens carrying luggage in their cars, and some distributing water to those who had waited for hours in their cars.
"This day shocked us all, we never expected a day like this to pass," one displaced man said.
The displacement is the largest in southern Lebanon since 2006 - which saw Hezbollah kidnap two Israeli soldiers, leading to a 33-day military operation by the Israeli army.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces said they had launched ‘intensive and precise strikes against 'terrorist targets' widely planted throughout Lebanon', calling on civilians in villages of Southern Lebanon and Bekaa Valley to ‘immediately stay away from areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes.' The IDF named the operation "Northern Arrows".
Lebanon's Ministry of Health announced that 492 people had been killed and 1645 wounded in Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the ministry's latest report as of press time.
The official Lebanese News Agency reported that several villages in the districts of Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Hasbaya, Jezzine, West Bekaa and Bekaa Governorate were targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Northern Corps reserve headquarters, the Galilee Division reserve base and its logistics warehouses at Ami’ad base, Rafael's military-industrial complex in the Zovulun area north of Haifa, and the main warehouses of the Northern District at Nimra base. Israeli media reported that Hezbollah has fired more than 200 rockets at northern Israel since Monday morning.
Tensions in southern Lebanon have escalated over the past week following the mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios used by Hezbollah and the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which killed the group’s senior commander Ibrahim Aqil, along with 60 others. On Sunday morning, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on areas near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
The Israeli army has been exchanging cross-border shelling with Hezbollah, Lebanese and Palestinian factions since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.