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A live broadcast by AFP showed plumes of smoke rising above buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a typically densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway.
Speaking today to foreign ambassadors, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said “the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented”.
According to Lebanese authorities, at least 217 people have been killed and 798 wounded since Israel’s expanded attacks on Monday, with more than 95,000 people displaced.
“Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose,” Salam said.
“Those who were forced to leave their homes are not and should not be held responsible for the suffering inflicted on them,” he added.
On Monday, the Lebanese government banned Hezbollah’s military activities after it launched rockets on Israel to “avenge” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, pulling Lebanon into the Middle East war.
Today, in a message posted in Hebrew on the group’s Telegram channels, Hezbollah told Israelis to evacuate all localities “located within 5 kilometres of the border”.
Israel has continued to strike dozens of areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, including Sidon, where five people were killed according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
An AFP photographer at the scene saw extensive damage in the targeted apartment and shattered glass on the street.
Rescue workers meanwhile recovered a body from under the rubble and collected body parts scattered around the area.
Further south in Tyre, home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, the NNA reported a major strike.
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