Middle East

Israel urges civilians in Lebanon to evacuate ahead of fresh strikes on Hizbullah

The announcement came shortly after Israel began what it said was a new round of ‘extensive strikes’

Smoke billows from the site of Israeli airstrikes in Aramti, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23rd, 2024. Photograph: Getty Images
Mon Sept 23 2024 - 07:18

The Israeli military has warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate from villages where Hizbullah was storing weapons, bringing Israel’s 11-month conflict with the militia closer to all-out war after a week of escalation.

The announcement from Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, came shortly after Israel began what it said was a new round of “extensive strikes” across Lebanon – and suggested that Israel was preparing for another round of attacks.

In a statement published online, Mr Hagari said that Hizbullah over the years has stashed weapons, including cruise missiles, in houses and buildings throughout southern Lebanon, and called on residents to stay away from these sites.

The military published a map showing 17 villages and towns in southern Lebanon, but it did not say which of them would be targeted.

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“Hizbullah is endangering you. Endangering you and your families,” he said.

Asked by reporters about a possible Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon, Mr Hagari said “we will do whatever is needed” to return evacuated residents of northern Israel to their homes safely.

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The evacuation order was Israel’s latest attempt to break Hizbullah, following clandestine operations last week that destroyed parts of the militia’s communications networks, as well as a rare strike on Beirut on Friday that destroyed a building where senior Hizbullah commanders were holding a meeting.

The new strikes Monday reflected the failure of those attacks to force Hizbullah to back down.

Locals in front of damaged property following missile strikes from Lebanon, on a residential neighborhood, in Moreshet, northern Israel, on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024. Photograph: Bloomberg

Hizbullah enacted its own escalation over the weekend, firing a barrage of missiles Sunday morning that hit areas roughly 30 miles south of the Lebanese border with Israel, its deepest strikes since the start of the war in October.

Hizbullah began firing at Israeli troops shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, attempting to show support for its Palestinian ally without starting its own all-out conflict. Israel responded with missiles and artillery fire, leading to regular exchanges of missiles and rockets, the evacuation of roughly 150,000 people on either side of the border, and widespread damage in the border areas.

Hizbullah has avoided turning the conflict into a no-holds-barred ground war, but it says it will not stop firing rockets until a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip. As a truce there is now a distant prospect, Israel is attempting more brazen attacks in order to force the group into disconnecting its fight from that of Hamas.

Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, pledged in a speech Thursday to continue fighting while the war in Gaza continues. – The New York Times and Reuters