Lebanese health officials said Tuesday that two days of Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 558 people.

Israel carried out multiple waves of airstrikes Tuesday in southern Lebanon, striking what it said were dozens of Hezbollah targets including fighters involved in firing rockets at northern Israel.

Hezbollah said its rocket fire Tuesday included targeting Israeli military bases.

A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency told reporters Tuesday that tens of thousands of people in Lebanon have been forced from their homes, and that the number was expected to rise.

The spokesperson, Matthew Saltmarsh, called the situation “extremely alarming.”

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk called on anyone with influence in the region to “do everything they can to ensure full respect for international law,” Turk spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

The surge in violence prompted Air France, Qatar Airways, Etihad and other airlines to cancel flights to and from Beirut’s airport.

The Israeli attacks began Monday with what the military said were strikes on more than 1,300 targets across southern and eastern Lebanon.

Lebanese health officials put the casualty toll from Monday’s Israeli strikes at nearly 500 dead and more than 1,600 injured.

Among those killed were 35 children and 58 women, the officials said.The Israeli military warned residents of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon's east to stay away from Hezbollah’s armament supply depots.

In a recorded message to Lebanese civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying they should “take this warning seriously.

”The surge in fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border during the past week has raised fears of a widening regional conflict, as Israel also battles Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last October 7, when the militant group began firing rockets in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas.

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