“The IDF is currently striking terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon,” Israel’s military said in a brief statement Tuesday afternoon, Day 2 of Operation Northern Arrows.
Israeli warplanes completed a third wave of attacks “under the direction of military intelligence and the Northern Command,” in the early afternoon hours, and launched a fourth wave of “extensive strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon,” Israel’s military announced shortly after 6 pm.
Private homes and other weapon storage sites were targeted in southern and eastern Lebanon, including the Beka’a Valley, for a second day, with the addition of strikes carried out around Sidon, along Lebanon’s southern Mediterranean coast, as well.
“We must not give Hezbollah a break. We will continue to operate at full strength,” IDF Chief of General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi said earlier in the day at a situational assessment.
“We will accelerate offensive actions today and reinforce all units. The current situation requires continued intensive operations across all fronts.”
Between Monday morning and midday Tuesday, the IDF said it had attacked more than 1,600 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including targeting a launcher from which rockets were fired at the Mount Carmel area near Haifa. Israeli fighter pilots dropped some 2,000 munitions on Hezbollah targets in the past 24 hours, the IDF said.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported early Tuesday afternoon that 558 people were killed, and more than 1,800 were wounded since the start of the operation on Monday. It is important to note, however, that those figures do not differentiate between Hezbollah members and non-combatants.
Shortly before noon with the direction of IDF intelligence, the IAF struck Hezbollah terror targets in the Beka’a Valley and several areas in southern Lebanon.
Among the intelligence-provided targets that were struck were buildings in which weapons were stored, command centers, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites.
“During the strikes, secondary explosions were identified, indicating that large amounts of weapons were stored in the buildings,” the IDF said, adding that operations will continue “to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure.”
As previously, the attacks focused on buildings where weapons, launchers and other military infrastructure were stored.
The IDF issued updated warnings non-combatants in southern Lebanon and the Beka’a Valley earlier in the day, urging them to evacuate the area before attacks resume against Iran’s proxy in the country, the Hezbollah terrorist army.
Lebanese residents living near Sidon received phone calls from the IDF early Tuesday morning, urging them to get out of harm’s way, and IDF Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted multiple similar warnings on the X social medial platform.
“Urgent announcement to the residents of Lebanese villages: The raids continue. If you are near or inside Hezbollah buildings or those used by it to store weapons, you must move away from those buildings at least one kilometer away or outside the village immediately,” Adraee wrote in a post.
“Anyone who is around Hezbollah members is putting himself in danger,” Adraee warned.
#أفيخاي_أدرعي
⭕️على مدار الساعات الأربع والعشرين الأخيرة هاجمنا أكثر من 1300 هدف إرهابي تابع لحزب الله في أنحاء لبنان وما زلنا نشن الغارات وستتواصل
⭕️ضربنا قدرات استراتيجية امتلكها حزب الله ووضعها في قلب القرى وفي قلب منازل مدنية كان ينوي إطلاقها لاستهداف مواطني دولة إسرائيل.… pic.twitter.com/O0AARcoPBu— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 24, 2024
“Over the past 24 hours we have attacked more than 1,300 Hezbollah terrorist targets across Lebanon and we are still conducting strikes and they will continue,” Adraee said in a separate, rather lengthy video message to Lebanese civilians.
“We struck strategic capabilities that Hezbollah possessed and placed in the heart of villages and in the heart of civilian homes, which it intended to launch to target the citizens of the State of Israel.
“I stress and warn the Lebanese residents who have left and moved away from these facilities and these houses that contained or still contain weapons. Do not return to them. These are dangerous places where explosives may explode and may be bombed again later.
“While Israel has been striking hard at Hezbollah’s capabilities and leaders over the past week, the terrorist party is busy with propaganda.”
