TEL AVIV: The Israeli military on Sunday called on residents of more than 20 villages in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes, as troops expanded their ground operations across the border. "The Army does not intend to harm you. For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and relocate to the north of the Awali River," Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
The Israeli military has been issuing regular evacuation messages to residents throughout southern Lebanon and in the capital Beirut, as it batters Lebanese Hezbollah strongholds and targets with air strikes.
In support of its ally Palestinians in Gaza, Hezbollah started firing into northern Israel in October last year, in a near-daily exchange of fire. In September, Israel expanded its focus from Gaza to Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to fight Hezbollah until Israelis displaced by the violence could return to their homes in the north of the country.
Since Israel began a wave of air strikes on targets in Lebanon and sent troops across the border on September 30, more than 1,200 people have been killed, according to Lebanese health ministry figures, and a million others have been displaced.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's Prime Minister condemned on Sunday his Israeli counterpart's call to UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove peacekeepers from the Lebanese side of the border, where clashes have intensified. Lebanon "condemns Netanyahu's position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL" peacekeepers, said Najib Mikati. "The warning that Netanyahu addressed to... Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy's approach of not complying with international" norms, he added.
UNIFIL, a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities, was created following Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon. It is currently tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. Forty contributor nations to UNIFIL said on Saturday that they "strongly condemn recent attacks" on the peacekeepers.
"Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated," said the joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.
The Lebanese Red Cross said its paramedics were hit by a strike on Sunday while attending the site of an earlier attack in the south, leaving them lightly injured. "Following the air strike on a house in Sirbin... Lebanese Red Cross ambulance teams were dispatched to the scene in coordination with" UN peacekeepers, the Red Cross said in a statement. — AFP
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