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BEIRUT (AP) — Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday arsenic nan decease toll from a monolithic Israeli bombardment climbed to astir 560 group and thousands fled from confederate Lebanon pinch nan 2 sides on nan brink of all-out war.
Displaced families slept successful shelters hastily group up successful schools successful Beirut and nan coastal metropolis of Sidon. With hotels quickly booked to capacity aliases rooms priced beyond nan intends of galore families, those who did not find shelter slept successful their cars, successful parks aliases on nan seaside.
Issa Baydoun fled nan colony of Shihine successful confederate Lebanon erstwhile it came nether bombing and came to Beirut successful a convoy of cars pinch his extended family. They slept successful nan vehicles connected nan broadside of nan roadworthy aft discovering that nan shelters were full.
“We struggled a batch connected nan roadworthy conscionable to get here,” he said.
Baydoun rejected Israel’s contention that it deed only subject targets.
“We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting civilians and attacking them,” he said. “That’s why we near our homes, to protect our children.”
Well-wishers offered up quiet apartments aliases rooms successful their houses successful societal media posts, while volunteers group up a room astatine an quiet state position successful Beirut to navigator meals for nan displaced.
In nan eastbound metropolis of Baalbek, nan state-run National News Agency reported that lines formed astatine bakeries and state stations arsenic residents rushed to banal up connected basal supplies successful anticipation of different information of strikes connected Tuesday.
Meanwhile, nan separator crossing pinch Syria saw monolithic postulation jams arsenic a consequence of group escaping from Lebanon to nan neighboring country.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched missiles overnight astatine 8 sites successful Israel, including an explosives mill successful Zichron, 60 kilometers (37 miles) from nan border.
The Israeli subject said Tuesday greeting that 55 rockets were fired from Lebanon into bluish Israel, mounting fires and damaging buildings. Military officials said they carried retired dozens of airstrikes connected Hezbollah targets, including connected a compartment that fired rockets overnight, and that tanks and artillery struck targets adjacent nan border.
Galilee Medical Center, a bluish Israel hospital, said that 2 patients arrived pinch insignificant caput injuries from a rocket falling adjacent their car. Several others were being treated for ray wounds from moving to shelters and postulation accidents erstwhile alarms sounded.
The renewed speech came aft Monday’s barrages racked up nan highest decease toll successful immoderate azygous time successful Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong warfare successful 2006.
Israel said it targeted sites wherever Hezbollah had stored weapons. Data from American fire-tracking satellites analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed nan wide scope of Israeli airstrikes aimed astatine confederate Lebanon, covering an area of complete 1,700 quadrate kilometers (650 quadrate miles).
NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System typically is utilized to way wildfires crossed agrarian areas of nan U.S. However, it tin besides beryllium utilized to way nan flashes and burning that travel airstrikes. That’s peculiarly existent erstwhile an airstrike ignites flammable worldly connected nan ground, specified arsenic munitions aliases fuel.
Data from Monday showed important fires breaking retired crossed confederate Lebanon and successful nan Bekaa Valley. Several areas showed intense, aggregate fires, including adjacent nan confederate coastal municipality of Naqoura, which hosts a guidelines for nan U.N. peacekeeping ngo successful confederate Lebanon known arsenic UNIFIL. Others were successful mountainous agrarian areas aliases villages.
The sides look on nan verge of war again aft tensions person steadily escalated complete nan past 11 months. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into bluish Israel successful solidarity pinch nan Palestinians and its state Hamas, a chap Iran-backed militant group, in Gaza.
Israel has responded pinch progressively dense airstrikes and nan targeted sidesplitting of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
Thousands of Lebanese fled nan confederate portion of nan country connected Monday aft nan Israeli subject ordered group to evacuate areas wherever it accuses Hezbollah of positioning rocket launchers and different weapons, successful nan biggest exodus since nan monthlong warfare waged 18 years ago.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said nan strikes since Monday killed astatine slightest 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women, and wounded much than 1,800 group — a staggering one-day toll for a state still reeling from a deadly onslaught connected connection devices past week.
Nearly a twelvemonth of cross-border occurrence had already emptied retired communities adjacent nan border, displacing tens of thousands of group connected some sides. Israel has vowed to do immoderate it takes to guarantee its citizens tin return to their homes successful nan north, while Hezbollah has said it will support up its rocket attacks until location is simply a cease-fire successful Gaza, which appears progressively remote.
The Israeli subject says it has nary contiguous plans for a crushed penetration but is prepared for one, aft moving thousands of troops who had been serving successful Gaza to nan bluish border. It says Hezbollah has launched immoderate 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since past October, including 250 connected Monday alone.
The subject said Israeli warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and onslaught drones, including weapons concealed successful backstage homes. Lebanese officials person said galore of nan victims were civilians, including much than 90 women and children killed.
Israel estimates Hezbollah has immoderate 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles tin of striking anyplace successful Israel.
Monday’s escalation came aft a peculiarly dense speech of occurrence Sunday. Hezbollah launched astir 150 rockets, missiles and drones into bluish Israel successful retaliation for strikes that killed a apical commander and dozens of fighters.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, utilized chiefly by Hezbollah members, exploded successful different parts of Lebanon, sidesplitting 39 group and wounding astir 3,000, galore of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not corroborate aliases contradict responsibility.
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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, Bassem Mroue and Fadi Tawil successful Beirut and Julia Frankel successful Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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