Hundreds flee southern Lebanon after Israeli warning

BEIRUT

Hundreds of Lebanese fled their areas south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Tuesday amid reports of an Israeli ground operation.

Main roads were jammed with fleeing civilians after the Israeli army declared areas south of the Litani River a “military zone,” according to an Anadolu reporter.

The army earlier ordered Lebanese civilians to avoid driving south of the Litani until further notice.

The warning followed a military declaration of launching “limited, and targeted” ground operations in southern Lebanon.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,057 people and injuring over 2,950 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara