BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Thursday, sparking panic as people fled a swathe of the Lebanese capital on the fourth
Israel warns people to leave Beirut's southern suburbs
Escalation and Impact of Israel's Warning to Beirut
By Maya Gebeily, Maayan Lubell, Khalil Ashawi and Jana Choukeir
Israel's Warning and Immediate Reactions
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's southern suburbs, including Hezbollah-controlled areas, on Thursday, prompting an exodus from a swathe of the capital known as Dahiyeh which a far-right Israeli minister said would soon resemble parts of Gaza.
Suggesting a major escalation looms in Israel's offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, an Israeli military spokesperson told residents of the southern suburbs to move east and north, posting a map showing four large districts of the capital he said they must leave.
Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire, sparking Israeli airstrikes focused on Beirut's southern suburbs and on southern and eastern Lebanon.
"Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately," the military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted on X, saying that any movement southwards may endanger their lives.
Roads out of the suburbs were clogged as people fled by car and on foot, television footage showed. The sound of warning shots could be heard in the southern suburbs, exhorting residents to leave.
Stories from Displaced Residents
Aliyyeh Hijazi, 66, said she fled her village in southern Lebanon at the start of the week for the city of Sidon in the south, before moving again to a relative's home in Dahiyeh, only to flee again after Thursday's warning.
"Our lives are over, especially those of us from the south. They say the southerner is very strong, but now the southerner can't bear it anymore," said the mother of 10, speaking to Reuters in Beirut's Martyrs Square where many of the displaced gathered, among them women and children wearing backpacks.
Israeli Officials' Statements and Military Actions
Smotrich's Warning
SMOTRICH: 'YOU HAVE BROUGHT HELL UPON YOURSELVES'
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video on X from near the Lebanon border, in which he said that Dahiyeh would soon resemble parts of Gaza, where Israel's two-year military campaign against Hezbollah's ally Hamas has left much of the territory in ruins.
"You wanted to bring hell on us but you have brought hell upon yourselves. The Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis. Our northern residents will soon live in quiet, peace and security," said Smotrich, who sits on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet.
Scope of the Evacuation Order
The area highlighted in the Israeli military map includes neighbourhoods controlled by Hezbollah but also spreads into adjoining ones.
While Israel has previously ordered people to leave buildings in Dahiyeh, this was the first time it instructed residents of the entire area to leave.
Israel also instructed residents of the eastern Bekaa Valley region, another area of Hezbollah influence, to leave. On Wednesday, the Israeli military had ordered residents to leave a swathe of the south.
Humanitarian Impact and Casualties
Flight Cancellations and Communication Tactics
LEBANON'S DEATH TOLL INCREASES TO 102
Nearly all outgoing and incoming flights to Beirut airport, which is adjacent to the zone identified by the Israeli military, were cancelled for Thursday evening and Friday.
Some residents of Beirut's southern suburbs told Reuters they had received calls from European numbers playing a recorded message from someone identifying themselves as a member of the Israeli military and telling them to leave their homes.
Population Density and Previous Conflicts
Beirut's predominantly Shi'ite Muslim southern suburbs are among the capital's most densely populated areas. The area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes during a war with Hezbollah in 2024 and during a previous war with Israel in 2006.
Displacement and Casualty Figures
Israeli bombardment and warnings have already forced tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee homes in the southern suburbs and the south this week.
The Lebanese health ministry said 102 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, said on Wednesday that seven children had been killed.
Impact on Israeli Civilians
There have been no reports of fatalities in Israel as a result of Hezbollah attacks.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Ahmed Tolba and Youman Ehab in Cairo; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Sharon Singleton and Andrei Khalip)
