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china news service, september 24. according to foreign media reports, on the 23rd local time, israel launched a large-scale attack on multiple locations in lebanon, which has killed at least 492 people. this is the day with the heaviest casualties in lebanon in nearly 20 years.

　　492 dead, 1,645 injured

　　thousands of families displaced

the british broadcasting corporation (bbc) quoted the lebanese national news agency as saying that the first wave of air strikes began at around 6:30 a.m. local time on the 23rd. subsequently, dozens of towns and villages in southern lebanon suffered varying degrees of bombing. later, a building in the southern suburbs of the lebanese capital beirut was hit by multiple missiles.

according to lebanon's health department, the bombing killed 492 people in the country, including 35 children and 58 women, and injured 1,645 people.

a lebanese official said this was the highest number of deaths in a single day from violence in the country since the end of the civil war.

the head of the lebanese health department said that thousands of families in the country were displaced by the attacks. currently, lebanon has activated 89 temporary shelters, including schools, which can accommodate more than 26,000 people.

　　israeli defense minister says conflict 'reached peak'

　　lebanon fires back dozens of rockets

the israel defense forces (idf) issued a statement on the evening of the 23rd local time, saying that it had attacked about 1,300 hezbollah targets in southern lebanon and the bekaa valley, and claimed that rockets, missiles, launchers and drones were hidden in these targets.

israeli defense minister galant said the attack on the 23rd marked the "peak" of the nearly year-long conflict between israel and lebanon's hezbollah.

galant added that the israeli army had captured tens of thousands of rockets and precision-guided munitions, saying that "everything that hezbollah had built in 20 years since the second lebanon war is actually being destroyed by the idf."

in response, hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at a military base in northern israel, reuters reported.

the israeli military said air raid sirens sounded in many places, including the port city of haifa and the northern west bank.

　　un secretary-general: shocked!

　　us military considers increasing troop numbers

following the attack, un secretary-general antonio guterres expressed shock at the escalating situation and said he did not want lebanon to "become another gaza."

meanwhile, us president joe biden said the us is "working to de-escalate the situation so people can return home safely."

pentagon spokesman pat ryder said: "given the heightened tensions in the middle east, out of an abundance of caution we will be sending a small number of u.s. military personnel to augment the forces we already have in the region."

in addition, reuters quoted a senior us state department official as saying that the united states does not support the cross-border escalation of conflict between israel and hezbollah, and the united states will discuss "specific ideas" with its allies to prevent the war from expanding.