Israel-Hamas war latest: Israel's air force launches dozens of airstrikes on southern Lebanon

Israel's air force carried out dozens of airstrikes early Monday on southern Lebanon, as the Israeli military called on people in the area to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.

Separately, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed eight Palestinians, including five children, on Monday morning, according to Palestinian medical officials.

Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns that were being struck. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes in different areas.

The Israeli military’s Arab-language spokesperson said Israel’s air force was attacking targets related to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The wave of airstrikes came after a tense day in which Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa. Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes as well.

Hezbollah’s rocket attack came after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen Hezbollah members, along with dozens of civilians including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.

Here’s the latest:

BEIRUT — Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon on Monday killed at least one person and wounded others.

The airstrikes hit the heights of the central province of Byblos for the first time since exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border began in early October, NNA said. A security official confirmed the airstrike in the village of Almat.

Also targeted by the early morning airstrikes were the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were wounded in the fields of the village of Bodai, NNA said. It added that four other people were also wounded in Bodai and were all taken to hospitals in the area.

NNA also said that 11 people were wounded in the southern village of Aitaroun, including 1 in serious condition.

BEIJING — China is urging its citizens in Lebanon and Israel to evacuate or move to safe areas as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is escalating.

Chinese citizens in Lebanon should take commercial flights to return to China or otherwise leave Lebanon as soon as possible for their own safety, the Consular Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on social media platform WeChat on Monday.

“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, effectively strengthen their security precautions and emergency preparedness and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement read.

On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Israel cautioned its citizens in the country to be prepared for any potential attacks including by missiles, rockets and drones. It added that Chinese people were advised against traveling to Israel and entering high-risk areas in the country’s north.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has called on people in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and says it is carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

Monday's announcement was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of low-level conflict along the border.

Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.

“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message reads, according to Lebanese media.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied out because of the near-daily exchanges of fire.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead it to wage an especially heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move in.

Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Monday.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed eight Palestinians, including five children.

A girl and her parents were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza early Monday. The girl’s two siblings were wounded.

Israel has struck several such schools-turned-shelters, saying militants hide out in them.

Another strike hit a home near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children, aged 4 to 8.

The casualties from both strikes were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters. It says a little over half were women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).

A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the U.N. agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.

“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — As the first rain of the cool season starts to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are struggling to cope with flooding that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Some children are entertained by the novelty of walking barefoot in the ankle-deep water, but their parents are less amused. The adults try to save what they can from their family's tents. One mother tries to dry her temporary home with a mop.

“We woke up in the morning to find the tents with rainwater pouring on us, and water from the streets entering on us,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the coming days?”

Suhail Al-Barawi, a displaced person from Beit Lahiya, was helping to build sand barriers to prevent more flooding in the camp.

“People wish for rain," he said, "and we say, ‘Oh God, do not give us rain.’”

The nearly yearlong war between Israel and Hamas has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the United Nations.

Israel’s defense minister says recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon are a step toward facilitating the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.

Speaking Sunday evening after visiting the military’s Northern Command headquarters, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful.”

He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”

Israeli attacks since Friday have killed dozens in Lebanon, including a veteran Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded with more than 100 missile attacks in northern Israel early Sunday, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis into air raid shelters.

Gallant says: “The past week has been the most difficult in the history of Hezbollah’s existence —especially over the past day.”

A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is treated in a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn their relatives, including kids killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, outside a morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli army jeeps move into the West Bank city of Nablus during a raid, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024,(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed).

An emergency worker speaks on the phone during rescue efforts at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A couple try to salvage some of their belongings from a damaged apartment at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A Hezbollah supporter carries a Palestinian flag near a picture of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Monday called on residents of southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and said it was carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters.

The escalating strikes and counterstrikes have raised fears of an all-out war, even as Israel is still battling the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and trying to return scores of hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group, while Israel says it is committed to returning calm to the border.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit the central province of Byblos for the first time since the exchanges began in October. Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, according to the news agency. It said a total of 17 people were wounded in the strikes.

An Israeli military official said Israel is focused on aerial operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with regulations, said the strikes are aimed at curbing Hezbollah's ability to launch more strikes into Israel.

Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.

“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message reads, according to Lebanese media.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied out because of the near-daily exchanges of fire.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead it to wage an especially heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move in.

The military said it had targeted more than 150 militant sites early Monday. Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media of airstrikes and large plumes of smoke. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes on different areas.

An Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen fighters, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel a day after the Oct. 7 attack in what it said was an attempt to pin down Israeli forces to help Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Israel has retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict has steadily intensified over the past year.

The fighting has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border. It has also sparked brush fires that have destroyed agriculture and scarred the landscape.

Israel has vowed to push Hezbollah back from the border so its citizens can return to their homes, saying it prefers to do so diplomatically but is willing to use force. Hezbollah has said it will keep up its attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but that appears increasingly elusive as the war nears its anniversary.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Israel's offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its count. It says women and children make up a little over half of those killed. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

An armed Israeli fighter jet is seen from Haifa, northern Israel, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israel calls on Lebanese to leave homes where Hezbollah stores arms as warplanes launch new strikes

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israel calls on Lebanese to leave homes where Hezbollah stores arms as warplanes launch new strikes