Israel attacks south Beirut after new Lebanon evacuation warning

The Israeli military hit areas south of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, shortly after issuing evacuation orders.

It claimed the attacks were aimed at Hezbollah strongholds on Thursday, as it has in the past, but the increasing number of raids have killed hundreds of civilians and displaced tens of thousands.

A plume of grey smoke rose over the area after the latest attacks. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israel launched a “violent” attack on the Ghobeiry area, which came under the latest evacuation orders, hitting near Rawdat al-Shahidain.

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic language spokesman, published the details of the orders forcibly displacing residents, with a map highlighting buildings the army deemed “Hezbollah infrastructure”, saying the Choueifat el-Aamroussieh and Ghobeiry areas would be struck.

Aerial bombardment typically follows these evacuation orders, often leaving residents with minutes to escape.

The Israeli military carried out two attacks on Choueifat el-Aamroussieh and Ghobeiry, which lie on the southern outskirts of Beirut, NNA reported.

Repeated Israeli air raids on south Beirut have led to an exodus of civilians, although some return to check on their homes and businesses.

According to NNA, there was also heavy Israeli bombardment in the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Thursday. Several blocks of apartments in the town barely 3km (2 miles) from the Israeli border were destroyed in air raids or shelling, it said.

In a second order, the army said residents of Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh, also in the southern suburbs of Beirut, should flee their homes.

At least 3,365 people have been killed and 14,344 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the war on Gaza began last October.