Traffic snarls the roads out of Baalbek as residents flee Lebanon’s main eastern city following an Israeli evacuation warning
DAILYMAIL |
Published October 30, 2024
Residents of Baalbek rushed out of their homes Wednesday after the Israeli army ordered Lebanon’s main eastern city and its outskirts evacuated for the first time in more than a month of war.
The Israeli army urged residents of Baalbek and surrounding villages to leave immediately, warning it was preparing attacks on Hezbollah targets.
The main roads out of the city were jammed with vehicles as civilians fled in panic, an AFP correspondent reported.
Civil defence vehicles drove around the city urging everyone to leave immediately over loudspeaker.
Mosques and churches in the city delivered the same message over their loudspeakers.
“The city is almost empty,” the correspondent said about an hour after the evacuation warning.
Before the evacuation order, the war had forced 60 percent of its estimated 250,000 residents to flee, an official previously told AFP, while the rest were mainly crammed into the city’s few Sunni-majority neighbourhoods.
“The (Israeli army) will act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages”, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
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THE TIMES OF ISRAEL |
Published October 30, 2024
A drone fired from Lebanon hit an aviation plant in northern Israel, and Israel warned residents of a Hezbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon to flee ahead of airstrikes, as Israel and the terror group continued to trade blows ahead of the arrival of senior US officials hoping to halt the deadly fighting.
The Israel Defense Forces said late Wednesday morning that residents in the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek should evacuate immediately, with warplanes set to target sites connected to the Iran-backed terror group in the area.
“The IDF will act forcefully against Hezbollah assets inside your city and villages, and does not intend to harm you,” Col. Avichay Adraee said on X, attaching a map showing a large part of Baalbek and surrounding towns in the Beqaa Valley.
Residents of Baalbek rushed out of their homes in response to the order, and an AFP correspondent reported that the main roads out of the city were jammed with vehicles as civilians fled in panic.
Civil defense vehicles drove around the city urging everyone to leave immediately over loudspeaker. “The city is almost empty,” the correspondent said about an hour after the evacuation warning.
The area, a UNESCO World Heritage site home to 3,000-year-old Roman ruins, is seen as a Hezbollah power base, and has come under repeated Israeli attack since fighting against the terror group ramped up last month. On Tuesday, the Beqaa Valley’s district governor said some 60 people had been killed in strikes the night before.
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SOURCE: www.timesofisrael.com
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