Israel Orders Residents to Evacuate 3 Buildings as Strikes Hit Beirut Southern Suburbs

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs early on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs early on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
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Israel Orders Residents to Evacuate 3 Buildings as Strikes Hit Beirut Southern Suburbs

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs early on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs early on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

The Israeli military has issued new instructions ordering residents of three buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate immediately.

Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in the Dahiyeh area in recent days, accusing Hezbollah of hiding weapons in local buildings.

“You are present near assets and warehouses belonging to Hezbollah terrorists, and so the IDF will act against them with force,” the army said in a message posted on the social platform X.

It called on residents to move at least 500 meters from the buildings “for your safety and the safety of your family.”

Airstrikes could be heard throughout Beirut and smoke rose from areas in the city's southern suburbs a little more than an hour after the Israeli military issued the evacuation order.



US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving US military aid, according to news reports on Tuesday.

"We are writing now to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," they wrote in an Oct. 13 letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X, according to Reuters.

The State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Israel's government also could not be immediately reached for comment.

The report comes as Israeli forces expand operations into northern Gaza amid ongoing concerns about access to humanitarian aid throughout the enclave and civilians' access to food, water and medicine.

US officials earlier this year said Israel may have violated international humanitarian law using US-supplied weapons during its military operation in Gaza.

This week's letter cited Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, which restricts (prohibits) military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.

It also cited a National Security Memorandum that US President Joe Biden issued in February that requires the State Department to report to Congress on whether it finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.