By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a violent 24 hours, thousands of civilians are fleeing Lebanon as fighting escalates between Israel and the Iran-backed militia group, Hezbollah.
Monday was the highest single-day death toll in Lebanon since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War. Roughly 500 people were killed in Lebanon Monday, including dozens of women and children.
Israel says they’re continuing the fight against Hezbollah, a US-designated terror organization, to degrade their military capabilities and prevent an attack similar to October 7, which was carried out by Iran-backed Hamas.
From pager explosions to missile strikes and other targeted attacks, tension is boiling over between Israel and Hezbollah. Targeted Israeli attacks in Lebanon Monday came after Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response to last week’s pager explosions.
According to the Israeli government Tuesday, Israel had attacked 1,600 terror targets in Lebanon in the past 24 hours. So far, hundreds of civilians and Hezbollah leaders have been killed with more than 1,000 reported injuries.
“The IDF has urged civilians to move out of harm’s way,” said Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer on Tuesday, adding that Israel is committed to targeting Hezbollah leaders and weapons stashes, including long range missiles capable of striking Israel.
“Thousands of them, all located in the heart of civilian populations inside Lebanon. All of them prepared for immediate launch against Israel,” said Mencer.
In Washington, Congressman Jack Bergman (R- MI) is among many lawmakers still standing strong with Israel in their fight against various Iran-backed proxies.
“If they’re left unchecked, they will destroy Israel. And Israel has a right to exist and has a right to defend itself,” said Rep. Bergman.
“I fully support Israel’s commitment to hold terrorists accountable,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D- PA) in a Sep. 21 post on the social media platform X.
The escalation comes as world leaders met in New York Tuesday for the United Nations General Assembly. During his last speech to the UNGA as leader of the US, President Joe Biden said a full-scale war is in no one’s interest.
“Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” said Biden.
There are concerns of what may come next and whether Iran will get directly involved. The Pentagon announced Monday that the US is deploying more troops to the Middle East out of an abundance of caution.
