356 dead in Lebanon as Israel strikes 800 Hezbollah targets

The toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon reached 356, with 1,246 others injured since Monday morning, Lebanon’s health ministry said, adding that 24 children and 42 women were among the dead.

Monday was Lebanon's deadliest day since the end of its brutal 15-year civil war, a Lebanese official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since the hostilities flared, Israel warned people to evacuate areas where it said the armed movement was storing weapons.

After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern frontier, from where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas. “The actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video published by his office, setting the stage for a long conflict as Hezbollah has vowed to fight on until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. “These are days in which the Israeli public will have to show composure.”

Gallant was speaking after the Israeli military targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south, eastern Bekaa valley and northern region near Syria in its most widespread strikes.

The Israeli military said it had struck around 800 targets connected to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon and the area of the Bekaa valley on Monday.

Concerned by Israel shuttering Al Jazeera office: US state dept

Washington: The US was concerned by the IDF’s raid and shutdown of media network Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, a state department spokesperson said on Monday. “This action is inconsistent with US support for freedom of the press in the West Bank and all over the world.” The US was still gathering information about the IDF operation on Sunday, they said.