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Residents Flee Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Evacuation Warning

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
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Residents Flee Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Evacuation Warning

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Reuters)

Residents of Beirut's southern suburbs fled en masse on Thursday afternoon after an evacuation warning from the Israeli army covering an area home to hundreds of thousands of people, AFP journalists reported.

Residents fired into the air shortly after the Israeli warning to urge locals to leave as quickly as possible.

Massive traffic jams formed on the outskirts of the southern suburbs, which has a strong Hezbollah presence, leaving people unable to evacuate quickly.

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Arab World

Israel Far-right Minister Warns Beirut Suburb Faces Devastation Like Gaza

Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel Far-right Minister Warns Beirut Suburb Faces Devastation Like Gaza

Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Thursday that a southern Beirut suburb, a stronghold of Hezbollah, will face devastation similar to Gaza after the Israeli military told residents to evacuate.

"Very soon Dahiyeh will resemble Khan Yunis," Smotrich said, referring to a southern Gaza city which has been heavily damaged by Israeli bombardments during the two-year war with Hamas, AFP reported.

"Hezbollah made a mistake, and it will pay a heavy price. We are striking at the head of the octopus in Iran, and at the same time we will sever Hezbollah's arm," he said in a video statement as he visited Israel's northern border.

Arab World

HRW Says Israel's Lebanon Evacuation Risks Violating Laws of War

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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HRW Says Israel's Lebanon Evacuation Risks Violating Laws of War

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Israeli military's call for residents of vast areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate raised "serious risks of violations of the laws of war".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel with Israel conducting air strikes across the country and its troops pushing into border towns.

On Thursday, Israel renewed its warning to residents of hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of southern Lebanon to evacuate because of military action, AFP reported.

"Calling on everyone who lives south of the Litani (River) to evacuate immediately raises serious legal and humanitarian red flags and fears for the safety of civilians," said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"How are older people, the sick and people with disabilities going to be able to evacuate immediately? And how will their safety be guaranteed as they leave?" he said in a statement from the rights group.

HRW said "the sweeping nature" of Israel's call raised "concerns that their purpose is not to protect civilians", adding that the area was home to hundreds of thousands of people.

The evacuation call "raises serious risks of violations of the laws of war", it added.

Lebanese authorities said dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes since Monday.

Arab World

Lebanese Government Bans All Activity by Iran Guards in Lebanon

A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanese Government Bans All Activity by Iran Guards in Lebanon

A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The Lebanese government said on Thursday it would ban any activity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps -- a main backer of the militant group Hezbollah -- and seek to deport its members from Lebanon, AFP reported.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said the country's cabinet had decided to "prevent any activity" that members of the Iran Guards "may carry out from Lebanese territory... and to have them detained by the competent judiciary to deport them".

He added that Iranians would now require a visa to enter Lebanon.