Israeli military bombs Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

By Ari Rabinovitch and Maya Gebeily

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli military launched its most widespread wave of air strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah, simultaneously targeting Lebanon's south, eastern Bekaa valley and northern region near Syria in nearly a year of conflict.

Asked by reporters about a possible Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said "we will do whatever is needed" in order to return evacuated residents of northern Israel to their homes safely, a war priority for the Israeli government.

The latest attacks came amid some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire in a conflict raging alongside the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Hagari called on residents of south Lebanon to keep away from Hezbollah posts.

Hagari said that Hezbollah over the years has stashed weapons, including cruise missiles, in houses and buildings throughout southern Lebanon, and called on residents to stay away from these sites.

Hagari presented in a media briefing an aerial video of what he described as Hezbollah operatives trying to launch cruise missiles from a civilian house in Lebanon, and the subsequent Israeli strike moments before it was launched.

"Hezbollah is endangering you. Endangering you and your families," Hagari said.

He said Israel began striking Hezbollah posts in Lebanon after identifying an intention to fire on Israel.

Israeli warplanes carried out an intense wave of air strikes on towns along Lebanon’s southern border and even further north on Monday morning, according to Reuters witnesses. 

Reuters reporters in the southern port city of Tyre could hear warplanes flying low over southern Lebanon and hear a series of air strikes nearby.

Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported Israeli airstrikes targeting the outskirts of many towns and villages in the south and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Footage showed columns of smoke rising over the south.

In addition to striking the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon, warplanes also carried out airstrikes on the Hermel area in northern Lebanon, Hezbollah's al-Manar reported.

Hezbollah and Israel exchanged heavy fire into Sunday, as the Lebanese militant group sent rockets deep into northern Israeli territory after facing intense bombardment. 

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told mourners at the funeral of one of the group's commanders killed last week in Beirut: "We have entered a new phase, the title of which is the open-ended battle of reckoning."

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said operations would continue until it was safe for evacuated people on his side of the border to return - also setting the stage for a long conflict as Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to fight on until a ceasefire in the parallel Gaza war.

Hezbollah has come under unprecedented pressure since thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded last week.

The attack, an unprecedented breach of security, was widely blamed on Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.

The conflict - which has escalated sharply in the past week - has raged since Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting in support of Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in Gaza.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Stephen Coates)