Cartoon by Marco De Angelis

Israeli military orders 23 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately

The Guardian: The Israeli army has urged residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate northward, past the Awali river, which flows from the western Bekaa valley into the Mediterranean, as it intensifies its attacks in the region.

The affected villages are: Qozah, Beit Lif, Yater, Jabal al-Batm, Zebqin, Marouhin, Sheheen, Umm Tuta, Bustan, al-Zalutiya, Yarin, al-Dhahiriya, Matmoura, Majdal Zun, Shamaa, Tayr Harfa, Abu Shash, al-Jabbin, Biyadh, al-Mansouri, Kafr, Alma al-Shaab and al-Naqoura.

In a post on X, the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that residents are “prohibited from going south” and that doing so “could be dangerous to your life”.

“Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons is putting his life in danger,” the post read.

The UN refugee agency’s Middle East director, Rema Jamous Imseis, has said Israeli repeated evacuation orders to scores of villages in southern Lebanon meant over a quarter of the country was now affected. About a million people lived in southern Lebanon before the conflict escalated almost a year ago.

Tens of thousands of people have fled north since Israeli airstrikes in the region intensified late last month. Lebanon’s health ministry said 45 people were killed and 179 injured in Israeli attacks across the country on Thursday alone.