TEL AVIV: The Israeli military urgently warned residents of more than 20 southern Lebanese towns and villages to immediately evacuate their homes and move north as Israel continued its ground campaign against Hezbollah.
On his account on the social media platform X, Israel Defense Forces Arabic spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee advised residents to move north of the Awali River to “save your lives.” He warned that any southward movement would put them in danger.
“Hezbollah’s activities force the IDF to act against it forcefully,” he wrote, adding that the IDF would let them know when it was safe to return home.
Adraee also issued a new evacuation order late Thursday night for residents of the Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Around 11 p.m. local time, the IDF spokesman said residents in indicated buildings should evacuate “immediately” as they are located next to Hezbollah “facilities and interests”.
The human rights organization Amnesty International said it was concerned by the evacuation orders, which have been issued to people in more than 70 towns and villages over the past three days.
The residents have been ordered to leave their homes immediately, with little time to gather their belongings.
“We want to underscore that these warnings do not create a free-fire zone in south Lebanon, and they do not absolve the Israeli military of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimize harm to civilians,” Aya Majzoub, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East, told reporters on a briefing call from Beirut on Thursday.
The IDF released video of what it said were troops operating in southern Lebanon. The army’s 6th Brigade is currently in the south “conducting targeted raids to thwart and destroy the terrorist infrastructure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” it said in a statement.
The IDF also said Thursday that Israeli fighter jets killed Hezbollah commander Khader Al-Shahabiya in a strike on Wednesday.
The statement said Shahabiya was responsible for the July rocket attack that hit a soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 children.
The IDF said its air force had “precisely struck” several Hezbollah weapons production and storage facilities; Hezbollah intelligence targets, including operatives; and other infrastructure belonging to the group in the Beirut area on Thursday.
(VOA)
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