Defence Forces in 'constant contact' with Irish troops in southern Lebanon amid expanded Israeli strikes
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Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that he is closely monitoring the situation in South Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been mounting large-scale attacks, and where Irish troops are currently serving.
The Israeli military said it was widening an aerial offensive against what it says are Hezbollah weapons sites in southern and eastern Lebanon. It warned residents in areas targeted to evacuate.
It said on Monday that it is expanding its air strikes to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border, after targeting more than 300 sites in the southern part of the country.
Earlier, Lebanese authorities said more than 270 people have been killed in what has become be the deadliest day in the country in nearly a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
The Lebanese health ministry said more than 700 others were wounded in the strikes in southern Lebanon.
The Taoiseach said the Government is receiving “regular updates” on the situation, and that the Chief of Staff and Defence Forces were in “constant contact” and monitoring developments there.
“Our troops in UNIFIL are well trained and their safety is our main concern,” he said.
Speaking at the United Nations (UN) in New York, Mr Harris he called on all sides to pull back from the brink of all-out war.
“I am extremely concerned by the overnight bombardment of Southern Lebanon, the massive loss of life reported there and the spectre that now arises of a second catastrophic front in the war in the Middle East,” he said.
The Taoiseach is in New York to address a “Save The Children” event alongside the Queen of Jordan and the Prime Ministers of Belgium and Slovenia as well as the Director General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
“This week the world gathers at the UN to discuss peace and working together, while at the same time the Middle East is on the brink of further human catastrophe,” he said.
The Taoiseach added that he would be using all of his engagements at the UN to stress this point.
Thousands of Lebanese have fled the south amid the widening hostilities, and the main route out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the Bekaa Valley, which runs along the Lebanese-Syrian border, and it is where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli military post in Galilee. It also targeted for a second day the facilities of the Rafael defence firm, headquartered in Haifa.
As Israel carried out the attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of air-raid sirens in northern Israel warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.
Earlier on Monday, Israel issued a broad warning urging residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons.
It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy 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.
The increasing strikes and counter-strikes have raised fears of an all-out war, even as Israel is still battling Hamas in Gaza and trying to return scores of hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, a fellow Iranian-backed militant group.
Israel says it is committed to returning calm to its northern border.
The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll of the strikes at 182 so far. It asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley to postpone surgeries that could be done later.
The ministry said in a statement that its request aimed to keep hospitals ready to deal with people wounded by “Israel’s expanding aggression on Lebanon”.
An Israeli military official said Israel is focused on aerial operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official said the strikes are aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s ability to launch more strikes into Israel.