People walk past tents set up as temporary shelters by displaced families fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south and Dahiyeh, on Beirut's corniche, Lebanon, October 8, 2024
A QUARTER of Lebanon is under “Israeli military displacement orders,” the UN said today, after Tel Aviv expanded its invasion further into Lebanon.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the humanitarian situation is “deteriorating at an alarming rate.”
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) issued a warning to people in southern Lebanon today, telling them to “be careful” as troops are attacking targets in the region.
IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X: “For your own safety, you are prohibited from returning to your homes until further notice.
“Anyone who heads south is putting his life in danger.”
About 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon since Israel began targeting the country last month and more than 400,000 have fled to neighbouring Syria.
Thousands of people have been sleeping on the streets as the majority of government shelters are at full capacity.
Clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops were reported in the eastern and western parts of Lebanon’s border today.
An Israeli strike killed four people and wounded another 10 at a hotel sheltering displaced people in the southern Lebanese town of Wardaniyeh, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Israeli emergency services said that two people were killed by rocket fire in northern Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that the people of Lebanon will face “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza” unless they “free [their] country from Hezbollah.”
Beirut resident Yusuf Habbal said: “Nobody here listens to Netanyahu. But we also do not accept what Hezbollah is doing.
“Beiruti people know that Hezbollah has their own agenda. And now they are driving us into a war we do not want.”
Lebanese media reported several air strikes on the capital overnight, with one saying Israel attacked Beirut from the sea, launching missiles from warships.
Mr Netanyahu was expected to speak to US President Joe Biden this evening about a possible Israeli retaliation on Iran for an Iranian missile barrage last week.
The pair have reportedly not spoken for several weeks as the two leaders’ relationship shows signs of deterioration.
Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 2,100 people, most of them in the last two weeks.
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