Hundreds killed as Israel launches major airstrikes against Hezbollah

Israel have begun a major airstrike campaign against Lebanon as part of their new ‘escalate to de-escalate’ approach. More than 300 airstrikes were launched on Monday, according to the Israeli military, as Israel seeks to neutralize potential threats posed by Hezbollah. The strikes were preceded by a series of warnings, including phone calls, something Lebanese news have labeled ‘psychological war.’ At the time of writing, at least 182 have been killed and over 700 have been wounded in the strikes. The strikes come a day after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into northern Israel, aimed at the Ramat David Airbase.

According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: ‘We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes.’ Approximately 60,000 Israeli citizens have been forced to evacuate from their homes in border regions over Hezbollah’s rocket attacks. This recent escalation marks the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, which began in October of last year.