Strikes near cities in southern and eastern Lebanon after Israeli call for evacuation

State media said Thursday’s strikes struck near eastern Lebanon’s main city of Baalbek and near the southern city of Tyre, after Israel called for the evacuation of both areas.

The air strikes came as Lebanon’s prime minister condemned Israel for warning to evacuate entire areas and called for diplomatic pressure to stop its strikes more than a month after the war began.

Civil defense said the strikes on Al-Hawsh, near Tire, destroyed six buildings and coincided with an exodus of civilians from the Rashidiya Palestinian refugee camp near Tire, which was also under an evacuation warning, the official National News Agency said.

“Enemy warplanes” also targeted Hezbollah-affiliated rescue workers in Tyre, the NPA said, adding that “an ambulance team that tried to rescue” the crew was attacked twice.

The camp, located about five kilometers (three miles) from Tire, is one of the largest and most overcrowded in Lebanon.

The NPA also said Israeli “planes carried out four strikes” on Baalbek after Israel issued evacuation warnings covering the main eastern city for the second day in a row.

Baalbek is known for its annual international music festival, which sent an open letter calling for “swift action to stop repeated attacks” on the city, which is also home to one of the world’s largest Roman temple complexes, a World Heritage Site. UNESCO website.

So far, the cultural heritage site has not been damaged, although it is under an evacuation warning.

Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai posted on Channel X a call for the evacuation of the Rashidiyah camp and other nearby villages and towns, urging residents to move “north of the Awali River.”

– “Continued escalation” –

Earlier on Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that “the Israeli enemy’s threats to Lebanese citizens to evacuate entire cities and abandon their neighborhoods and homes constitute an additional war crime.”

He said he “demands increased pressure on Israel to stop its aggression.”

On Wednesday, Mikati said US envoy Amos Hochstein had indicated in a telephone call that a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah was possible before the November 5 US elections.

Mikati said the ceasefire would be linked to the implementation of the United Nations resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers should be stationed in southern Lebanon and demands the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory.

“We are waiting for a response from him after his discussions” in Israel, Mikati said.

“Israel’s continued escalation, posture and threats leave little room for optimism, at least in the short term.”

His remarks came as Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on three sites in southern Lebanon killed six rescuers linked to Hezbollah or its ally Amal.

The war in Lebanon began late last month, nearly a year after Hezbollah launched low-intensity cross-border fire into Israel in support of Hamas following its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,784 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to AFP’s Health Ministry.