TEL AVIV, September 23. /TASS/. Israel’s Air Force delivered airstrikes on over 150 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Monday morning, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"The IDF attacked more than 150 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon using dozens of fighter jets from all Air Force squadrons," the Israeli army said in a statement on X.

Earlier, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari called on residents in southern Lebanon to stay away from residential buildings used by the Shia military group to store weapons, including rockets.

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalated further after a series of wireless communications device explosions rocked the Arab republic on September 17 and 18. The Lebanese Health Ministry said as many as 70 people were killed in the deadly twin attack, with 770 people remaining at hospitals with wounds, including 152 in intensive care. Hezbollah blamed the blasts on Israel, as its leader Hassan Nasrallah called them "a declaration of war."

Though the Jewish state has not yet commented on the attacks, it said it had intensified its military operation in the northern direction before the Israeli Air Force launched extensive strikes on border areas in southern Lebanon. On September 20, Israel attacked Beirut where it eliminated 16 Hezbollah military commanders. The Israeli authorities say the intensified attacks on Lebanon aim to return some 50,000 residents in northern Israel who have evacuated amid continued firing by Hezbollah. The firing has been ongoing since October 8, 2023, when Shia militias first attacked Israel as they supported the invasion of southern Israel by armed supporters of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.