In anticipation of an impending operation, the Israeli military on Tuesday issued fresh evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon, including alerting people in two neighborhoods in southern Beirut to avoid a number of structures.
Israel’s military on Monday vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a “heavy price” after rocket and drone fire from the Iran-backed militant group.
“Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in the villages which names are shown,” said a statement by the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Telegram, which listed 50 locations.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately.”
The majority of the sites were in Lebanon’s south, where Israel frequently attacks in an effort to damage Hezbollah infrastructure.
In a second evacuation alert, he warned the people living in the neighborhoods of Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik in southern Beirut to stay away from two buildings.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” he said.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 300 metres (984 feet),” he added.
In a later warning, he told “those in the southern suburbs of Beirut, especially in the Hadath neighbourhood” to avoid a third building.
Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, reacted negatively to Lebanon’s government’s historic move on Monday to outlaw the organization’s military and security operations.
The action was taken just hours after Hezbollah, which has representation in both the government and the parliament, declared that it had fired missiles and drones at Israel early on Monday in retaliation for the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli assaults.
On Monday, Israel retaliated by bombarding numerous communities in south Lebanon as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The Lebanese government said the Israeli strikes have killed at least 52 people and wounded 154.
