The Israeli army has launched ferocious airstrikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as areas in the south and east of Lebanon on Friday, as thousands of residents fled their homes amid the onslaught.
Israel struck several towns in south Lebanon overnight, with widespread destruction in the southern Beirut suburbs, Shia-majority areas that are home to an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people.
The death toll in Lebanon since dawn on Monday has risen to 123 killed and 683 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
In response, Hezbollah has targeted Israeli positions and issued a warning to residents of northern Israeli border towns to evacuate.
Hezbollah said in a statement on its Telegram channel: “Your army’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty, against peaceful civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the displacement campaign it is carrying out will not pass without a response.”
Israel on Thursday ordered all residents to flee Lebanon south of the Litani River and the southern Beirut suburbs or face death.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned on Friday that “a humanitarian disaster is looming” as a result of Israeli evacuation orders that are causing a massive displacement of the population.
“The humanitarian and political consequences of this displacement could be unprecedented,” the premier told foreign ambassadors.
AFP correspondents on the ground saw scenes of panic and terror as residents fled en masse.
Israel’s extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday threatened to turn the southern Beirut suburbs into another Gaza Strip, saying that they will soon “look like Khan Younis”.
Israel’s army chief of staff Eyal Zamir said on Thursday he had ordered troops to expand the area under Israeli control in southern Lebanon, as attacks intensified.
“We are striking with force, on the front line and deeper in Lebanon. I instructed Israeli army forces to move forward and deepen the line of control along the border, while establishing positions at key points in southern Lebanon,” Zamir said during a televised address.
Hundreds of families milled around on Beirut’s Ramlet al-Baida beach, left with nowhere to go.
“We fled from the suburbs, we were humiliated,” one man told AFP, declining to give his name.
“We’ll sleep on the road tonight and God alone knows what will happen to us.”
Since the early hours of Friday morning, Israeli fighter jets have carried out waves of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeting the areas of Jamous, Msharrafieh, and Haret Hreik, in addition to a residential building in the Hadath neighbourhood.
The Israeli army said it had carried out 26 waves of attacks in the southern suburbs since the renewed conflict broke out in Lebanon on Monday.
It said that Thursday night’s strikes targeted a headquarters and 10 high-rise buildings containing Hezbollah military infrastructure, a drone storage facility, and a headquarters belonging to the Iran-backed group’s Executive Council.
In southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported airstrikes targeting eight towns, including Srifa, Aita al-Shaab and Kfar Rumman. The strikes also hit the town of Douris in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
An Israeli officer and a soldier were lightly wounded during a clash with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon last night.
