People flee south Lebanon amid intensifying Israeli bombardment - VIDEO

Families from south Lebanon have flooded highways heading north, escaping an escalating Israeli bombardment.

Their journeys were marked by uncertainty, with children crammed onto parents' laps, suitcases strapped to car roofs, and dark smoke rising behind them, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Countless cars, vans and pick-up trucks were loaded with belongings and filled with people, sometimes several generations to a vehicle, while other families had fled fast, taking only the bare essentials as bombs rained down from above.

"When the strikes happened in the morning on the houses I grabbed all the important papers and we got out. Strikes all around us. It was terrifying," said Abed Afou whose village of Yater was hit heavily in the dawn barrage.

Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group have been trading fire across the border since the war in Gaza began last year with an attack by Hezbollah's ally Hamas, but Israel has rapidly intensified its military campaign over the past week.

Thousands of people are urgently leaving southern #Lebanon as it comes under #Israeli #attacks . pic.twitter.com/I5OhYDrfAL

— News.Az (@news_az) September 24, 2024

On Monday, as the bombardment escalated to encompass more parts of Lebanon, people received pre-recorded telephone calls on behalf of Israel's military telling them to leave their homes for their own safety.

Afou, who had stayed in Yater since the start of the fighting despite being only about 5 km (3 miles) from the Israeli border, decided to leave as blasts started striking residential houses in the district, he said.

"I had one hand on my son's back telling him not to be afraid," he said. Afou's family with three sons aged 6-13, and several other relatives, were now stuck on the highway as traffic crawled north.

They did not know where they would stay, he said, but just wanted to reach Beirut.

Lebanon's health ministry said more than 356 people were killed in the bombardment and an official said it was the country's deadliest single day since the end of the civil war in 1990.

Israel said it had struck about 800 targets connected to Hezbollah and that buildings it hit contained weapons belonging to the group.

News.Az