The Israeli Army has issued evacuation orders this Monday directed at the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, considered the main stronghold of the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, in anticipation of new air attacks on this area of the capital.
"The Israel Defense Forces warn residents of the Dahiye area of Beirut --referring to the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, where Hezbollah has a presence and support-- and urge them to evacuate to preserve their safety," published on social media the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli Armed Forces, Avichai Adrai.
The warning disseminated by the spokesperson emphasizes that "as long as Hezbollah continues to launch projectiles towards Israeli cities and towns, the IDF will respond by attacking targets in Dahiye and in the south" of the country, making it clear that the bombings will continue as long as attacks from Lebanese territory persist.
Moments later, Adrai shared the message again, incorporating an additional clarification: "The State of Israel is not fighting the Lebanese people, but the terrorist organization Hezbollah." In this way, the spokesperson wanted to emphasize that the targets of the operations are the positions of the Shiite group.
Before the publication of these warnings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his Defense Minister Israel Katz, had already made public that they had given the green light to attacks against Hezbollah in Beirut in retaliation for the group's recent actions, including the offensive that caused the death of an Israeli soldier in the area of the Beaufort cross castle, which had been captured on Sunday by Israeli forces.
The current escalation of violence is part of an escalation that intensified on March 2, when Hezbollah launched projectiles into Israeli territory in response to the assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the offensive initiated on February 28 by Israel and the United States against the Asian country.
Both sides had agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024, after thirteen months of clashes linked to the October 7, 2023 attacks. However, since then, Israel has continued to carry out regular bombings on Lebanese territory and has maintained troops deployed in several locations, alleging that its operations were directed against Hezbollah, while Beirut and the group itself have repeatedly denounced these actions.