WAR.WIRE
Israel army urges evacuation of southern Lebanon villages ahead of strike
Jerusalem, Sept 18 (AFP) Sep 18, 2025
The Israeli army urged residents of various areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate Thursday ahead of imminent air strikes on Hezbollah targets.

"The army will attack military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in various areas of south Lebanon in the near term, in response to its prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the region," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

The military published maps of four buildings in three different villages in southern Lebanon, calling on residents of the buildings and adjacent constructions to evacuate "immediately" and "stay at least 500 metres away from them".

Israel has kept up its strikes on southern Lebanon despite a truce signed in November that ended more than a year of hostilities and two months of open war with Hezbollah.

It has also maintained troops in five locations in the south of Lebanon it deems strategic.

Under US pressure, Beirut has ordered the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to disarm the militant group in areas near the Israeli border by the end of the year.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi told AFP last week that Lebanon's army will fully disarm Hezbollah near the border within three months.