JERUSALEM: Israel warned residents to immediately leave a swathe of south Lebanon on Wednesday, ordering them to move north of the Litani River on the third day of full-blown hostilities with the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Lebanon has emerged as a theatre in the war that has engulfed the region since the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at Israel on Monday, prompting Israeli retaliation that has killed dozens of people.
Nearly 60,000 people have fled the fighting, the United Nations said, adding to tens of thousands who were already displaced by a 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
An Israeli military spokesperson published a map on Wednesday of the area in southern Lebanon that he said residents should evacuate, an area amounting to around 8% of Lebanese territory.
A day after Israel’s defence minister said he had authorised the military to advance and take control of additional positions, Israeli troops had moved into at least nine towns in southern Lebanon, a senior Lebanese security official told Reuters.
The Israeli military said two soldiers were wounded as a result of anti-tank fire, the first reported injuries among Israeli troops since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday.
The Lebanese army said it had redeployed troops from some border positions in light of Israeli incursions into southern Lebanon.
It said it had arrested 26 Lebanese nationals in various places who were carrying weapons without a licence, but did not say whether they were members of Hezbollah. The Lebanese cabinet on Monday voted to outlaw Hezbollah’s military activities.
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