Israel kills 356, wounds over 1,200 in strikes on Lebanon: ministry

At least 356 people, including 24 children and 42 women have been killed and 1,246 wounded in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, the country's Health Ministry has said.

Monday was Lebanon's deadliest day since the end of its brutal 15-year civil war (1975-90), a Lebanese official has said.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Monday that Israel was targeting civilians, ambulances, and medical centres.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres was "gravely alarmed" by civilian casualties in Lebanon.

"The secretary-general is gravely alarmed by the escalating situation and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women." UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it struck 1,300 targets in Lebanon.

The army announced the strikes on the social media platform X, posting a photo of what is said was the military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, approving additional attacks from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

It is one of the most intense barrages of air strikes in nearly one year of fighting "against Hezbollah". Halevi and other Israeli leaders have promised tougher action against Hezbollah in the coming days.

As Israel was carrying out the attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of air-raid sirens in northern Israel warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.

Heavy strikes

Israel earlier on Monday urged residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes in areas where it warned of "extensive strikes."

It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a cumbersome exchange of fire on Sunday.

Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters.

There was no sign of an immediate departure from the villages of southern Lebanon, and the warning left open the possibility that some residents could live in or near targeted structures without knowing they were at risk.

Associated Press journalists in southern Lebanon reported heavy air strikes targeting many areas Monday morning, including some far from the border.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 130 kilometres north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since the exchanges began in October.

No injuries were reported there.

Israel also bombed northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, according to the news agency. It said a total of 30 people were wounded in these strikes.

The Lebanese Health Ministry asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be done later, as the Israeli military said it would launch more air strikes targeting eastern Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.

"We are preparing for a large-scale and targeted strike in Bekaa Valley," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a media briefing.