In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Israel has ordered the evacuation of 23 Lebanese villages north of the Awali River. The Israeli military, represented by spokesman Avichay Adraee, urged residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes for their safety, particularly citing villages recently targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli military has attributed the evacuations to increased activity by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, claiming that Hezbollah is hiding weapons and launching attacks from these regions. However, Hezbollah has strongly denied these allegations, asserting that it does not use civilian areas for weapon storage.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified last year following Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel in support of Hamas during the Gaza war. In recent weeks, the situation has escalated dramatically. According to the Lebanese government, ongoing Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut have displaced over 1.2 million people since September 23rd. This figure surpasses the number of Lebanese displaced during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, when approximately 1 million people were forced to flee, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
On Saturday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a military base in Haifa, northern Israel, stating that its fighters targeted an explosives factory with multiple missiles.
In a separate incident, Israel faced international condemnation for a strike that hit a United Nations peacekeeping position in Lebanon on Friday, injuring two Sri Lankan peacekeepers. This marked the second attack on UN personnel within two days, prompting condemnation from the UNIFIL mission.
