Israel steps up ground op, urges evacuation of 30 Lebanese villages

Jerusalem, Oct 1 (IANS) Israel's military on Tuesday urged civilians in Lebanon to evacuate about 30 villages and towns, warning of imminent Israeli attacks in the area, after launching a ground operation into southern Lebanon overnight.

"You must evacuate your homes immediately," Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), wrote in a post in Arabic on the social media platform X.

The list included mostly villages and towns near the border with Israel, including Maroun al-Ras, Deir Qanoun, Bint Jbeil, and Aitaroun. However, it also included villages, such as Ibl al-Saqi, located some 60 km from the border, indicating the scope of the ground attack planned by Israel.

"Anyone near Hezbollah members, their facilities, or their military equipment is putting their life at risk. Any house used by Hezbollah for military purposes is likely to be targeted," Adraee warned, Xinhua news agency reported.

He urged civilians to "head immediately north of the Awali River."

"Be aware: moving south is prohibited. Any movement southward could endanger your life," he added.

Earlier, Adraee called on civilians in southern Lebanon to remain north of the Litani River.

Daniel Hagari, the IDF's chief spokesman, said in a press briefing that the military launched overnight "limited and targeted raids along Israel's northern border."

According to Hagari, the goal of the ground campaign is to stop Hezbollah's rocket fire at northern Israel.

Also on Tuesday morning, Hezbollah forces fired rockets at Tel Aviv and other central cities, moderately injuring a 54-year-old bus driver and sparking a fire, Israel's rescue services said.

The rockets triggered sirens across central Israel and several settlements in the northern occupied West Bank. Several other rocket attacks on Tuesday morning targeted bases in the north of Israel.

The Israeli military said in a statement that "a number of projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory, some of which were intercepted."

It added that details of the incident were still under review.

In a statement, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it fired Fadi-4 missiles at the Glilot Base near Herzliya, targeting the Mossad intelligence agency headquarters.

Overnight between Monday and Tuesday, the Israeli military began a ground operation into southern Lebanon with commando and paratrooper forces raiding the region, while other forces fired artillery and tank shells in addition to air attacks. Beirut's southern suburb also came under heavy Israeli bombardment.

In a video released by the military, the commander of the commando Egoz Unit confirmed Israel has carried out "targeted" commando raids in Lebanon over the past months.

"We started with lower-profile raids, and today we are going to engage in a more significant maneuver to bring the residents of the north back to their homes safely," he said.

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