They hit the village! They hit the village!” a pharmacist in southern Lebanon said in a panicked voice note to friends as he rushed to flee Israeli bombardment. Amid sweeping Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon – and warnings from the Israeli military for civilians to leave areas where Hezbollah‘s weapons were stored – residents fled cities, towns and villages on Monday.Lebanese reported a chaos of clogged roads and disrupted communications lines as they desperately tried to reach friends and loved ones.
Israeli officials said Monday that Hezbollah was storing thousands of long-range rockets in civilian homes, and people in Lebanon received text messages and automated calls warning them to move away from the group’s weapons caches. The claims drew criticism from human rights groups, which said residents would have no reasonable means of knowing how close they were to potential military targets.
Israel’s claim and its warnings on Monday drew stark parallels to Gaza, where for nearly a year civilians have been repeatedly displaced as the Israeli military ordered them to move to areas it said would be safer. “Everyone is heading (to Beirut) with their children and belongings – it’s the first time we see such panic since 2006”, when Hezbollah and Israel last went to war, Lebanese journalist Nazir Reda told AFP.
Israeli officials said Monday that Hezbollah was storing thousands of long-range rockets in civilian homes, and people in Lebanon received text messages and automated calls warning them to move away from the group’s weapons caches. The claims drew criticism from human rights groups, which said residents would have no reasonable means of knowing how close they were to potential military targets.
Israel’s claim and its warnings on Monday drew stark parallels to Gaza, where for nearly a year civilians have been repeatedly displaced as the Israeli military ordered them to move to areas it said would be safer. “Everyone is heading (to Beirut) with their children and belongings – it’s the first time we see such panic since 2006”, when Hezbollah and Israel last went to war, Lebanese journalist Nazir Reda told AFP.
