Israel Orders Evacuation In Southern Lebanon Ahead Of Strikes

The Israeli military on Monday ordered residents of Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon to leave a designated area ahead of planned strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an explosive drone had been launched toward its troops and that “Hezbollah’s terrorist activity compels the IDF to act forcefully against it.” It did not say whether any Israeli soldiers were injured.

In an Arabic-language warning, the military said it was targeting a “Hezbollah terrorist facility” and cautioned that people remaining in the area could be at risk.

Hezbollah-linked Al-Manar television later reported that Israeli airstrikes had hit Deir Zahrani.

The development came a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on Washington and the international community to help halt Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Earlier, Israel had issued its first evacuation warning in Lebanon in about a month, urging residents near a building in Arab Salim that it identified as a Hezbollah facility to evacuate ahead of a planned strike.

Lebanon was pulled into the wider Middle East conflict in March after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of its ally Iran. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in Lebanon, with Lebanese authorities saying more than 4,300 people have been killed.

Fighting has eased since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader regional conflict in June and a subsequent Israel-Lebanon framework agreement later that month.

Israeli forces remain deployed inside a self-declared “security zone” extending about 10 kilometres (six miles) into Lebanese territory along the border.