Israel Orders Evacuation of Lebanese Villages Ahead of Expected Attacks on Hezbollah

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military called on residents of more than half a dozen villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate on Saturday ahead of expected attacks against Hezbollah despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting. "In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it forcefully," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, listing nine villages. "For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns by a distance of no less than 1,000 metres to open areas," he added. Despite the in effect since mid-April, daily, mostly in southern Lebanon. In an earlier statement, the Israeli military said it had struck more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites "from the air and on the ground" in the past 24 hours. It said these included weapon storage facilities, launchers, and structures used by Hezbollah "to advance terrorist activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers". The military also said it had struck an underground Hezbollah weapons production site in the Beqaa valley in eastern Lebanon, as well as militants who were "advancing terrorist activities against IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon". On Friday, Hezbollah said it launched missiles and drones at military bases in Israel in retaliation for a recent attack on Beirut and ongoing strikes in the south. Lebanese authorities reported 11 people killed in Israeli strikes on the south on Friday.