UPDATE - Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon nears 500

CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, UPDATES WITH LATEST DEATH TOLL

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday surged to 492, including women and children, according to official figures.

Some 58 women and 35 children were among those killed, in addition to 1,645 others who were injured, said the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Health Minister Firas Abiad said earlier that the Israeli airstrikes forced thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon towards the north, particularly those near border areas.

Lebanese authorities said they opened schools and other institutions to accommodate civilians displaced by Israeli airstrikes in the country’s south.

In a statement, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said he directed governors to cooperate fully with the mass evacuation from southern regions.

The Israeli army claimed late Monday that it struck more than 1,100 Hezbollah targets in the last 24 hours in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The army said it used more than 1,400 different munitions in some 650 sorties of its fighter jets over Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.