Israel orders evacuation of 25 towns in southern Lebanon

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders for residents of 25 towns in southern Lebanon on Monday amid a huge air campaign on the country.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee asked residents of the targeted towns to leave their homes and move north of the Awali River.

The list of the targeted towns include Borgholiyeh, Qasmiyeh, Nabi Qasim, Al-Matariyyah, Kharayeb, Mazraat Kauthariyet El Rez, Ansar, Babliyeh, Deir Taqla, Aadloun and Ansariyeh.

Also on the list are the towns of Merouaniyeh, Zefta, Bfaroueh, Habbouch, Nabatieh, Sejoud, Jbaa, Aanqoun, Bnaafoul, Qennarit, Zeita, Aarnaya, Mazraat Matariyet Jbaa, and Tanbourit.

Adraee said the Israeli army will allow the residents of these towns to return “when appropriate conditions allow.”

The Israeli army has issued several evacuation orders for dozens of towns in southern Lebanon as Tel Aviv carried out air and ground attacks in the area.

Israel has launched a huge air campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,488 people, injuring over 4,297 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed more than 42,200 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul