100 Israeli jets carry out wave of 120 airstrikes in southern Lebanon within 60 minutes

One hundred Israeli fighter jets struck over 120 Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon during one large flight within the span of 60 minutes, Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday evening.

The massive wave of airstrikes hit “targets of the geographic units of [Hezbollah’s] southern front, targets of the Radwan Force, the missile and rocket array and Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in southern Lebanon,” the IDF stated.

מטוסי חיל האוויר השלימו היום מטס אווירי רחב היקף בדרום לבנון. בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין ובהובלת פיקוד הצפון ואגף המבצעים, 100 מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו במשך שעה>> pic.twitter.com/Ry9V61f9fF

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 7, 2024

The IDF’s statement added that the large-scale attack, added to several other strikes, was “designed to deepen the damage to Hezbollah's command, control and firing capabilities, and to assist the maneuvering ground forces to achieve their goals.”

איתות לאיראן: 100 מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו היום יותר מ-120 מטרות טרור של חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון . מדובר במטס אווירי בהיקף נרחב בהובלת פיקוד הצפון ובהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין ואגף המבצעים. pic.twitter.com/kujoRJ7PNB

— אינטלי טיימס - Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) October 7, 2024

Also on Monday evening, the IDF announced that it had conducted another targeted strike in Beirut but did not provide further details. Israel's Channel 12 News reported that no evacuation notice was issued before the strike, which occurred near the location where Hashem Safi al-Din, the presumed next leader of Hezbollah, was reportedly killed last week.

The precision strike followed over 100 attacks on Hezbollah sites in Beirut over the past two weeks, according to Israeli media reports. The targeted sites, concentrated in the Dahiyeh district, primarily consisted of weapons depots, production facilities, and headquarters, as well as command centers.

Later on Monday, the IDF issued a warning to Lebanese civilians to stay away from the seacoast and the beaches to the south of the Awali River, ahead of IDF operations “in the maritime sector."

Shortly after, the army declared the areas along the border – from Rosh Nanikra, Shlomi Hanita, Adamit to Arab al-Aramsheh in the Western Galilee – as closed military zones, indicating the start of a ground incursion supported by Israel's naval forces.

The Israeli Navy has taken an active role in the conflict by intercepting drones and rockets over the sea, as well as striking Hezbollah targets with ship-launched missiles.

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes killed 22 people and wounded 111 more over the past 24 hours. Overall, 2,083 have been killed and 9,869 were wounded, according to the statistics, which don’t distinguish between terrorists and civilians.

Throughout the war, Hezbollah announced most of its casualties but stopped amid the increased onslaught by the IDF some weeks ago. The toll had reached over 500, with the Israeli military saying that over 450 additional Hezbollah terrorists have been eliminated in the ground offensive this past week.

On Monday, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and terror attack in southern Israel last year, Hezbollah launched over 140 rockets at Israel, targeting the areas of Kfar Vradim and Karmiel in the Galilee with over 20 rockets each in the morning, after attacks on Haifa and Tiberias shortly before midnight.