Written by Amina Ismail and Ahmed Tolba
BEIRUT/CAIRO (Reuters) – The Israeli military on Saturday ordered residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to an area north of the Awali River, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea in the western Bekaa Valley.
The order, delivered in a military statement, mentioned southern Lebanese villages that have been targeted in recent Israeli attacks, many of which are already largely empty.
The Israeli military said the evacuation was necessary for the safety of residents as Hezbollah activity increased, and claimed Hezbollah was using the base to conceal weapons and launch attacks against Israel.
Hezbollah denies concealing weapons among civilians.
UNIFIL, another member of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, was hit by gunfire on Friday, it said in a statement on Saturday. The man is currently in a stable condition after undergoing surgery to remove the bullet, he added.
The statement also said a base in the southern Lebanese city of Lamia suffered significant damage from an explosion caused by nearby artillery fire, but did not say who was responsible for either attack.
An Israeli airstrike last Friday near a watchtower in southern Lebanon wounded two UN peacekeepers, drawing condemnation from international organizations and several countries.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted a year ago when the Iranian-backed group began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas as the Gaza war began, has escalated over the past month.
Intensifying Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs have forced some 1.2 million people to flee their homes since September 23, according to the Lebanese government.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saturday that more Lebanese people have fled their homes than during the last major war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
