BEIRUT — Hundreds of people were fleeing southern Lebanon on Monday morning after a night of attacks across the region drew Iran-backed Hezbollah further into the conflict.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported on Monday that 31 people were killed and 149 were injured in the Israeli attack.Men, women and children are seen getting into cars, which caused traffic jams in Sidon as residents try to escape the escalating violence.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued an “urgent” evacuation warning for buildings in the south of Beirut.Israeli jets have bombed Beirut after Hezbollah launched rocket and drone attacks against a military base in Haifa, northern Israel.The Lebanese armed group said early on Monday that its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “in defense of Lebanon and its people” and “in response to the repeated Israeli aggressions”.“The resistance leadership has always affirmed that the continuation of Israeli aggression and the assassination of our leaders, youth and people gives us the right to defend ourselves and respond at the appropriate time and place,” the group said in a statement, referring to the near-daily Israeli attacks on Lebanon.“The Israeli enemy cannot continue its 15-month-long aggression without a warning response to halt this aggression and withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories.”Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for firing at Israel and that the group’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, was “now a marked target for assassination”.Katz threatened Qassem, saying, “Anyone who follows Khamenei’s path will soon find himself in the depths of hell with all the thwarted members of the axis of evil.”The Israeli military said it was “vigorously attacking Hezbollah” throughout Lebanon.“The [Israeli military] will act against Hezbollah’s decision to join the campaign, and will not allow the organization to pose a threat to [Israel] and harm the residents of the north,” it said.The Israeli military later said it targeted “senior” Hezbollah members in Beirut and a “key” figure in south Lebanon, without providing details.Israel also called on people in more than 50 villages in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, including the town of Bint Jbeil, to evacuate their homes and stay at least 1km (0.6 mile) from the buildings.The warning for such a vast area appears to mirror the mass displacement orders Israel would issue during its genocidal war on Gaza.The escalation could deepen the crisis in Lebanon, which has been suffering from economic and political woes for years.Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire in November 2024, but Israel has been violating the truce and carrying out attacks across the country almost daily.The Lebanese group had refrained from responding to Israeli strikes, urging the Lebanese government to assume its responsibility and protect the country instead.The authorities in Beirut have been pleading with the international community to pressure Israel to end its violations to no avail.In January, Beirut filed a complaint with the United Nations, documenting 2,036 Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty in the last three months of 2025.Last year, the Lebanese government issued a decree to disarm Hezbollah, but the group rejected the decision, arguing that its weapons are needed to protect the country against Israeli expansionism.The Lebanese government has banned Hezbollah’s armed activities throughout the country, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday.The decision marks one of the clearest challenges yet to the movement’s long-standing parallel authority.Salam said the Hezbollah attack was “an irresponsible and suspicious act that jeopardises Lebanon’s security and safety and provides Israel with pretexts to continue its aggression”.“We will not allow the country to be dragged into new adventures, and we will take all necessary measures to apprehend the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese people,” Salam said on X. — Agencies
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