The development came after Hezbollah fired rockets and launched drones early Monday toward northern Israel. Israel retaliated with a wave of airstrikes that killed 40 people in Lebanon, including a Palestinian militant and a Hezbollah intelligence official in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Hezbollah said on Tuesday morning it fired two salvos of rockets toward northern Israel while Israeli airstrikes overnight damaged a building housing Hezbollah’s TV and radio stations. Beirut’s southern suburbs saw a series of strikes early on Tuesday afternoon that came without warning, and the Israeli military later said it targeted Hezbollah officials.
The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned residents of more than 80 villages and towns in southern Lebanon to leave, adding that people should not return to these areas until further notice.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, France and Egypt on Tuesday that Hezbollah has been firing rockets from areas north of the Litani River.
The Lebanese government said in January that Hezbollah weapons and military facilities have been removed from the area south of the river and along the border with Israel, and that Lebanese troops are in full control of the area between the river and the border.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it has sent additional troops into southern Lebanon and took new positions on several strategic points close to the border. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the Lebanese army was evacuating some of its positions along the border.
Adraee, the Israeli spokesman, posted on X that the troops’ movements inside Lebanon is part of efforts to bolster Israel's forward defense system and create an addition layer of security.
