What to remember from Monday, September 23, marked by intense Israeli bombings in Lebanon

The Israeli army says it has targeted “1,300 Hezbollah targets” in Lebanon, causing more than 400 deaths according to Lebanese authorities.

An outbreak of violence unprecedented since the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli army hit “1,300 Hezbollah targets” on Lebanese soil on Monday, September 23, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press briefing. “Complex days await us”he warned, suggesting further attacks by Israel on its northern neighbour. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, these strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children. Here are the main developments in this new day of violence in the Middle East.

Israeli PM calls on Lebanese to evacuate

In a video message in English, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time recommended that Lebanese citizens ““move away from dangerous areas”. “Once our operation is complete, you will be able to return home safely.”he said in English in a video. After the repeated strikes in southern Lebanon, scenes of mass exodus were captured by journalists from France 2. For its part, the Israeli army warned that the strikes targeting Hezbollah will “continue in the near future” and will be “more important and more precise”. In recent days, Israeli messages to the Lebanese population have multiplied, even in car radios.

The escalation of war is confirmed in Lebanon

“In less than a week”nearly 5,000 people have been injured in various attacks, including the explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel was reversing the “balance of power” in the north of the Hebrew state, on the border with Lebanon.

On Monday evening, new barrages of rocket fire were reported on northern Israel shortly before 8 p.m. (local time, 7 p.m. Paris time), and air raid sirens sounded around the northern Israeli city of Haifa. Residents in the area rushed to missile shelters, according to the Israeli press. Less than an hour earlier, the warning system had sounded in the northern Golan Heights, just a few kilometers from the border.

Several countries in the region appeal to the United Nations

Egypt has called for UN Security Council intervention following the “dangerous Israeli escalation”In a statement, Turkey accused Israel of wanting to “lead the entire region to chaos” with these strikes. Iraq said it wanted to organize an “urgent meeting” of delegations from Arab countries present in New York, on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati deplored this “Israeli aggression”which is, according to him, “a war of extermination in every respect, a plan of destruction aimed at annihilating Lebanese villages and towns”. The government has decreed “the closure of public and private schools” Monday and Tuesday in the south and east of Lebanon, targeted during the night, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeted on Friday by a deadly raid.