MARJAYOUN, Lebanon -- Israeli strikes Monday on Lebanon killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, Lebanese authorities said, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah.
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006.
Lebanon's health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people -- a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
In a recorded message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying "take this warning seriously."
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"Please get out of harm's way now," Netanyahu said. "Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Monday the U.S. will send a small number of additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The U.S. has about 40,000 troops in the region.
On Monday, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, two Navy destroyers and a cruiser set sail from Norfolk, Virginia, headed to the Sixth Fleet area in Europe on a regularly scheduled deployment.
The ships' departure opens up the possibility that the U.S. could keep both the Truman and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is in the Arabian Gulf, in the region in case more violence breaks out.
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