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Israel ratchets up assaults on southern Lebanon, orders evacuations
Israel carried out new air strikes in the south of Lebanon on Saturday after ordering people to leave about 20 locations including the city of Nabatieh as part of its military campaign against Hezbollah resistance movement.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli airstrikes hit several areas covered by the warning, including the villages of Rihan and Sujud, located not far from Nabatieh, and other areas not mentioned in the evacuation notice.
It said an Israeli strike killed a local official in Rihan, located in the southern region of Jezzine.
The Israeli army warned residents in 24 locations, both in and around Nabatieh and nearer to the coast, to "evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Zahrani River", around 45 kilometers from the southern border with Israel.
Last month it declared all areas south of the river "combat zones", and has been heavily striking the area.
Fighters from the Hezbollah resistance movement also on Saturday struck and destroyed technical devices belonging to Israeli forces with two kamikaze drones on the outskirts of the Jal al-Dei military post in Nabatieh. Hezbollah fighters also destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank in the southeastern outskirts of the town of Yahmour al-Shaqif.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began in March after the Lebanese group launched military operations against the Israeli regime in response to the regime’s aggression against Iran.
The war has claimed at least 3,700 lives since March 2, according to the latest figures released by Lebanon's Health Ministry.