With preparations for a ground invasion... hundreds killed and wounded in the most violent Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced that 274 people were killed and 1,024 others were injured, including women, children and paramedics, as a result of Israeli raids on southern Lebanon since Monday morning.

For his part, Lebanese Education Minister Abbas Al-Halabi announced the closure of schools and universities tomorrow, Tuesday, throughout the country. The authorities decided to open educational institutions to shelter those displaced by the most violent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon since October 8, 2023.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army spokesman announced that the army will soon launch attacks deep inside the Bekaa Valley region in eastern Lebanon, after carrying out more than 800 raids on the south since the morning.

The spokesman said that the Israeli army's attack on Lebanon was a "preemptive strike" after monitoring Hezbollah movements to target Israel.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the raids targeted the towns of Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun, Houla, Taybeh, Markaba, Bani Hayyan, Jabal al-Rayhan, the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah, Bint Jbeil, Hanin, Zawtar, and the Nabatieh region in southern Lebanon.

The raids also extended to the areas surrounding the Shaara, Harbata, and Hermel regions, and the areas surrounding the towns of Shamstar, Taraya, and Boday in eastern Lebanon.

In the eastern region as well, the bombing extended to the town of Al-Khader in the Baalbek region and to the surroundings of the town of Nabi Sheet.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli army raided 400 targets in Lebanon.

This is how Hezbollah missiles explode inside the homes of residents in southern Lebanon pic.twitter.com/aDLNB7PJdN

— Omar Madaniah (@Omar_Madaniah) September 23, 2024

Explosions in Haifa

Meanwhile, explosions were heard in Haifa and sirens went off in the southern part of the city, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

Sirens also sounded in Acre, Carmel and the central Galilee after a large barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon.

Channel 12 Israel said that a rocket fired from Lebanon fell on a building in Kiryat Tivon, northern Israel.

About 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon in the latest salvo, according to Israeli Army Radio.

Earlier, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that a large barrage of rockets was fired from southern Lebanon towards the Galilee.

Hezbollah announced that it had bombed the Northern Corps reserve headquarters and the Galilee Division reserve base in the Amiad base with missiles, and it also bombed the Rafael military industries complexes in the Zevulun area north of Haifa with dozens of missiles.

Israeli media reported that rockets fired from Lebanon fell in the Upper Galilee and Nazareth district.

Israel Hayom reported that an Israeli was injured when rockets fell in the Upper Galilee.

The army also announced that 5 Israelis were injured when a rocket fell near the Golani Junction in the Lower Galilee.

Tzafon Hospital in Tiberias announced the evacuation of a number of patients and the transfer of others to fortified areas or different hospitals, in light of the updated directives issued by the Home Front Command yesterday, Sunday.

Preparations for a ground invasion

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made statements from the Defense Ministry's main command room in Tel Aviv, saying that Israel was "on the cusp of complicated days."

"I promised that we would change the balance of power in the north, and that is exactly what we are doing," he continued, stressing that Israel "does not wait for the threat, but rather anticipates it," according to Channel 12.

Meanwhile, the Walla website quoted senior Israeli army commanders as saying that they are "ready to launch a ground operation in Lebanon."

However, Bloomberg quoted an Israeli military official as saying that the army is currently focusing on the air campaign and that a ground invasion is not imminent.

The military official added that Israel seeks to destroy Hezbollah's missile and rocket launchers to weaken its capabilities.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israel has decided to extend the closure of civilian airspace from Hadera to Haifa until the end of September.

More than 80 thousand connection attempts

The head of the Lebanese telecom company Ogero, Imad Kreidieh, said that Lebanon received more than 80,000 suspected Israeli calls on Monday asking people to evacuate. Kreidieh described what happened to Reuters as psychological warfare to create panic and chaos.

Lebanese people received Israeli warning messages on their mobile phones, asking them to evacuate their places immediately, as an indication of the possibility of launching broader attacks in light of the confrontation with the Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Lebanese National News Agency said, "Citizens in Beirut and a number of areas are receiving warning text messages via the landline network, coming from the Israeli enemy."

She explained that the messages asked them to evacuate their locations quickly, as part of the psychological warfare adopted by the enemy.

Psychological warfare and disclaimer

In the same context, she reported that the office of Minister of Information Ziad Makary received a call in which the answering machine called for the evacuation of the building.

Later, Al-Makari said in a statement, "Within the framework of the psychological warfare adopted by the Israeli enemy, a large number of citizens in Beirut and the regions received random, unified phone messages via the landline network, calling on the recipient to evacuate his location," noting that he had received one of those messages.

The minister explained that this approach is not strange to the Israeli enemy, which uses all means in its psychological warfare, and does not advance or delay anything.

Regarding the effects of the messages on the work of his ministry, Al-Makari said that work in the Ministry of Information is ongoing and normal, and “all employees are devoted to their daily tasks.”

He also called for not giving the matter more attention than it deserves, noting that it is being followed up by the relevant authorities.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army warned - via the X platform - residents of villages in Lebanon against being in buildings containing Hezbollah weapons, and called on them to move away from them immediately.

In addition to psychological warfare, Israel wants these messages to try to absolve itself of responsibility if international courts consider crimes involving civilians, as is happening with regard to the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Since October 8, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon - most notably Hezbollah - have been exchanging daily shelling with the Israeli army on both sides of the border, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, most of them on the Lebanese side.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies