Thousands clog roads desperately trying to flee firing line in southern Lebanon

Writing on X, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi said ‘Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives’.

He also claimed that ‘two UNHCR colleagues were also killed yesterday’ amid ongoing fighting.

Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the army will do ‘whatever is necessary’ to push Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Rear Admiral Hagari claimed Monday’s widespread airstrikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah.

But he would not give a timeline for the ongoing operation and said Israel was prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon if needed.

‘We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats,’ he said. ‘We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission. We hope to do it as shortly as we can.’

Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.

Earlier on Monday evening, the Israeli military said it had carried out a targeted strike in Beirut. It did not give details.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported three missiles hit southern Beirut’s Beir al-Abed neighborhood. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said six people were wounded.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the earlier strikes hit hospitals, medical centres and ambulances. The government ordered schools and universities to close across most of the country and began preparing shelters for the displaced.

Sir Keir Starmer today called for de-escalation between Lebanon and Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza during is speech at the Labour Party conference.

The PM said: ‘This is a time when great forces demand a decisive government prepared to face the future. We can see that again in the Middle East today.

‘So I call again for restraint and de-escalation at the border between Lebanon and Israel. Again, all parties to pull back from the brink.

‘I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the hostages, and a recommitment to the two-state solution, a recognised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.

‘And that’s the message I will take to the UN General Assembly when I travel there later today, alongside our steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.’

The increasing strikes and counter-strikes have raised fears of all-out war, even as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and tries to negotiate the release of scores of hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7 attack.

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, many of them civilians.