Israel's military late on Tuesday urged residents of the south Lebanon city of Tyre to leave, warning it would strike targets in the area it said are linked Hezbollah.The military's Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued an "urgent alert" to residents of the city and surrounding areas, saying it planned to "act forcefully" against Hezbollah, in a social media post that included a proposed evacuation route.
Bilal Kashmar, media coordinator for the disaster management unit at the union of Tyre district municipalities, told AFP there was chaos in Tyre and surrounding areas after the late-night evacuation order, as panicked people scrambled to leave, with heavy traffic and shooting into the air in warning.
Many families had remained in the area including in several Palestinian refugee camps despite previous Israeli army evacuation orders for vast swathes of south Lebanon, he said.
Around 11,000 people displaced from other parts of the country's south have also taken refuge in Tyre and surrounding areas that are under threat, including in collective shelters, he added.
