JERUSALEM

The Israeli army hit 1,500 targets in airstrikes in Lebanon since Monday morning, according to Israeli media on Tuesday.

Israeli warplanes dropped 2,000 shells during the attacks in southern and central Lebanon, Army Radio reported.

The Israeli army launched waves of airstrikes in Lebanon since Monday morning against what it called Hezbollah targets amid an escalation in warfare between the two sides.

Lebanese authorities said at least 558 people, including 95 women and 50 children, were killed and 1,835 others injured, Health Minister Firas Abiad said.

"The majority of the victims in the Israeli attacks since Monday morning are defenseless civilians in their homes. This refutes the enemy's allegations of targeting fighters," the minister stressed.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said a soldier sustained minor injuries from the falling fragments of an interceptor missile in northern Israel.

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that 60 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel in the afternoon.

Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said early Tuesday that the military will intensify “offensive operations” in Lebanon.

“Hezbollah must not be given a respite. [We must] keep working with all our might,” he added in statements carried by a military statement during a security assessment.

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 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.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio