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The Israeli military urgently warned residents of more than 20 southern Lebanese towns and villages Thursday 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.
Lebanese health officials said Thursday that an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building overnight in Beirut, killing at least six people and wounding seven others. The ministry also said two people were killed and 14 wounded in Israeli raids in the Bekaa governorate in eastern Lebanon.
The country's health minister said Thursday that more than 1,900 people have been killed since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Palestinian Hamas, and Israel began retaliating. The vast majority have died in airstrikes and other attacks since mid-September. In that period, 49 people in northern Israel have been reported killed.
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations' peacekeeping department said the 10,058 international peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon are staying put for now.
"Contingency plans are ready, and they are constantly updated so that if needed, we can adapt UNIFIL's posture," said the U.N. Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, referring to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.
Israel has told the peacekeepers to relocate, but the U.N. has refused. Lacroix said several measures were taken to protect the peacekeepers in the last few weeks and called on the parties to "respect the safety and security of peacekeepers."
Health care in crisis
The head of the World Health Organization said that 37 health facilities have been closed in south Lebanon, and three hospitals in Beirut had to fully evacuate their staff and patients. Another two hospitals had partially evacuated.
"In Lebanon alone, 28 health workers have been killed in the last 24 hours," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Thursday in Geneva. "Many health workers are not reporting to duty, as they fled the areas where they work due to bombardments."
He said a plan to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies on Friday had been delayed due to what he described as the "almost complete closure of Beirut's airport."
Lebanon's health system is in crisis with the sudden influx of people wounded in Israeli airstrikes. On Tuesday, the Lebanese Red Cross put out an urgent call for blood donations.
Iran attacks Israel
Tensions have dramatically escalated in the region since late Tuesday, when Iran unleashed an unprecedented barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles aimed at Israel.
Iran conducted the attack on the eve of the Jewish New Year in retaliation for a series of attacks on its proxies, including the assassinations of Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week.
Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu warned that Tehran "will pay" for the attack, and his security Cabinet met late Tuesday to discuss possible retaliation. Some reports have suggested Israel may strike at Iran's oil refineries or even its nuclear sites.
As he left the White House Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked if the U.S. would allow Israel to retaliate and what the U.S. plans were in that regard.
"First of all, we don't 'allow' Israel. We advise Israel," Biden said. "And there's nothing going to happen today. We'll talk about that later."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that Tehran would have a strong response to any Israeli retaliation.
Speaking in Qatar during a joint news conference with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Pezeshkian said Iran was not in pursuit of war with Israel, but he cited the airstrike on Tehran that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as an Israeli provocation. He said he would continue to advocate for peace.
Israel has never officially taken responsibility for the strike that killed Haniyeh.
Israel announced Wednesday that eight of its soldiers had been killed in fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a day after Israel had started what it said was a "limited" ground operation to destroy militant infrastructure there.
Margaret Besheer, Patsy Widakuswara, and Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report.
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