(VOVWORLD) – On September 24, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the deployment of numerous military aircraft in an unprecedented campaign of airstrikes in Lebanon, carried out on September 23 and 24.
| A column of smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, September 24, 2024. Photo: Times of Israel |
The operation, dubbed “Northern Arrow,” targeted a large quantity of weapons and equipment belonging to Hezbollah.
According to the IDF, more than 250 aircraft fired about 2,000 missiles and shells at more than 1,500 Hezbollah targets in 200 locations, mainly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the east. Most of the strikes targeted homes used as weapons depots. With the support of drones, Israeli aircraft destroyed 400 medium-range missile launchers, 70 weapons depots and about 80 cruise missiles and drones. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had “significantly weakened the power” of Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed that the airstrikes killed 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women, and injured 1,835 others, mostly civilians. The toll is the highest in Lebanon in more than 30 years.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli attacks on September 24 killed at least 22 Palestinians, including six in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
