Israeli army orders residents of 25 southern Lebanese towns to evacuate homes

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army ordered Thursday the residents of 25 towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes and head north of the Litani River.

Such orders have been issued almost on a daily basis in recent days as residents continue to flee to areas far from their villages and towns.

Avichai Adraee, the Israeli army spokesperson, listed the towns, including Al-Kharayeb, Arzi, Zarariyeh, Adlun, Ansariye, Mazraat Deir Taqla, Mazraat Al-Wasiti, Mazraat Jumjum, Qsaibeh, Jebchit, Nabatieh, Mazraat Sinai, and Douir.

The list also included Kfar Rumman, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, Manzaleh, Haboush, Al-Homsiyah, Baysariyeh, Al-Saksakieh, Loubieh, Kfar Tabnit, Arnoun, Zaoutar Al-Sharqiya, and Zaoutar Al-Gharbiyya.

"You must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River,” Adraee said.

Several areas in Lebanon are witnessing an influx of displaced residents fleeing ongoing Israeli airstrikes.

As of last Friday, the number of registered displaced people in approved shelters by the National Operations Room in Lebanon reached 86,600, while the number of shelters totaled 644, including public schools, educational complexes, vocational institutes, agricultural centers, and others distributed across various governorates, according to Lebanon’s disaster risk management unit.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 on what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed so far more than 1,100 victims, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in a yearlong conflict between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 41,800 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

At least 1,974 people have since been killed, over 9,384 injured, and 1.2 million others displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

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

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul