Thousands flee southern Lebanon as Israeli strikes kill more than 550
Southern Lebanon was jammed with fleeing civilians, as Israel intensified an aerial assault on Hezbollah.
Tens of thousands of people fled southern Lebanon as Israel vowed Tuesday to “accelerate” an aerial offensive that already inflicted the country’s deadliest day since war nearly two decades ago.
The Israeli military said it would be operating at "full force" as the death toll in Lebanon rose past 500 people and Hezbollah launched a new barrage of cross-border fire, an intensifying exchange between the U.S. ally and Iran-backed militant group that has stoked mounting fears of an all-out regional conflict.
Washington was preparing to send troops to be ready to help evacuate Americans, while dozens of international flights were canceled.
The sudden escalation saw roads jammed as residents of southern Lebanon abandoned their homes and loaded vehicles with the few possessions they could grab after Israel warned many to leave and followed with a wave of attacks. Tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in the area as of Tuesday, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
A young man who fled from southern Lebanon, holds a cat to his chest as he arrives at a shelter in Beirut on Sept. 23, 2024. Fadel Itani / AFP - Getty ImagesLebanese children sit inside a truck upon their arrival to seek refuge at a public school in the city of Sidon on Monday.Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP - Getty ImagesNearly 500 people were killed in Lebanon on Monday, according to local health officials, marking the deadliest Israeli bombardment of the country since Israel's 34-day war with Hezbollah in 2006. By Tuesday, the death toll had risen to at least 558, including at least 50 children and 94 women, with at least 1,835 people injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
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