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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 24 according to xinhua news agency's foreign correspondents, israel's continuous air strikes on many parts of lebanon on the 23rd have caused 492 deaths and 1,645 injuries, making it the "bloodiest day" since the escalation of the lebanon-israel conflict. the international community is worried that lebanon and israel are sliding towards a full-scale war and the situation in the middle east is becoming more turbulent.

this is the thick smoke rising after the israeli air strike photographed in khiyam, lebanon on september 23.xinhua news agency (photo by tahir abu hamdan)

idf spokesman hagari said on the evening of the 23rd that the israeli army launched large-scale air strikes on "lebanese hezbollah targets" in the past 24 hours, hitting more than 1,300 "hezbollah targets."

the lebanese ministry of public health issued a statement on the evening of the 23rd saying that the air strikes were concentrated in towns and villages in southern lebanon, bekaa and baalbek in eastern lebanon, and the victims included 35 children and 58 women.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said at the israeli air force operations center at the ministry of defense in tel aviv on the 23rd that in order to protect israeli citizens from attacks by hezbollah in lebanon, israel must respond with force to change the security balance and balance of power on the northern front. he said that israel will not wait for threats but will take preemptive action, and the israeli army is destroying thousands of missiles and rockets aimed at israeli cities and citizens. he issued a video statement later on the 23rd, demanding that lebanese citizens immediately evacuate dangerous areas.

un secretary-general guterres issued a statement through his spokesman on the 23rd, expressing deep shock at the escalation of tensions near the "blue line" on the border between israel and lebanon, which has caused a large number of casualties, expressing serious concern for the safety of civilians on both sides of the "blue line", and strongly condemning the acts that caused casualties. the statement also said that guterres reiterated the urgent need to immediately ease the situation, make every effort to seek a diplomatic solution, and once again called on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.

prior to attending the un general assembly in new york on the 23rd, eu high representative for foreign affairs and security policy josep borrell said that the escalating conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon could lead the middle east into a full-scale war. he described the current developments as "close to a full-scale war." "we are now seeing more military strikes, more damage and more casualties." borrell urged the world leaders attending the meeting to do their utmost to prevent the conflict from continuing to develop.

iranian president masoud pezerhchiyan told the media in new york on the 23rd that "we want peace, not war" and iran does not want to be the cause of instability in the middle east. he believes that israel is trying to provoke a full-scale war. he stressed that the outbreak of a full-scale war will bring irreversible consequences and that conflicts in the middle east should be resolved through dialogue.

the qatari ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on the 23rd, condemning israel's attack on lebanon "in the strongest terms". the statement said that the main reason for the continued escalation of the israeli-lebanese conflict is that israel's actions have not been deterred in any way, and israel has continued to violate international law and evade sanctions, which has exacerbated the crisis and brought the region to the brink of the abyss.

the turkish ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on the 23rd saying that israel’s recent attacks on lebanon were "an attempt to drag the region into chaos" and that the international community should "take necessary measures without delay."

u.s. department of defense spokesman patrick ryder said at a press conference on the 23rd that in view of the increasingly tense situation in the middle east, the united states will send a small number of military personnel to reinforce the troops already in the region. he said he could not disclose more details, saying "only a small number of troops." according to u.s. media reports, there are currently about 40,000 u.s. troops deployed in the middle east.