Israeli shelling that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Khiam (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
The Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for dozens of Lebanese towns and a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon on Thursday as Hezbollah said its fighters were in battles with Israeli troops around the town of Khiam.
Israeli military Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents of ten towns in south Lebanon to evacuate around the city of Tyre and the coastal area, including al-Rashiya refugee camp, the second largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon.
It marks the first time Adraee has ordered a refugee camp in Lebanon to evacuate and will add further pressure to northern towns and districts which have taken in thousands of displaced in the past month.
Some 36,595 Palestinians live in al-Rashiya camp which is five kilometers south of Tyre, according to UNRWA.
A state of panic was reported in the camp after the threats, The New Arab’s Arabic language editor Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported citing sources on the ground.
“We are trying to help everyone, along with the emergency teams, to move to safe locations, particularly shelters in areas such as Sidon and further north,” the source said.
Israel’s evacuation orders do not exempt the army from following international humanitarian law when attacking these sites, and attacks on citizens who choose to stay are still considered violations.
Multiple Israeli strikes took place across Lebanon on Thursday morning, including a drone strike on a vehicle in Mount Lebanon governorate on the highway linking Beirut to the Bekaa valley and a separate strike on a motorcycle on the Tyre- Naqoura highway, according to local reports.
Airstrikes were also reported in the western Bekaa valley and the eastern Baalbek district, which has been under heavy aerial bombardment since Wednesday when Israel ordered the whole city to evacuate, causing chaos as thousands rushed from homes.
Hezbollah said that it fired multiple artillery rounds on Thursday morning at a group of Israeli troops positioned in Wata al-Khiam, southeast of the village of Khaim which is a few kilometres north of the Israeli frontier.
Khiam was a major landmark during the Lebanese civil war due to its notorious detention centre set up by the Israel-allied South Lebanon Army.
Lebanese state media reported on Tuesday that Israeli tanks were manoeuvring on the outskirts of the village, marking their deepest incursion yet into Lebanese territory since the conflict expanded last month.
Talks continue among US, Lebanese and Israeli officials as US special envoy Amos Hochstein is expected in Israel on Thursday.
Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday that he believed a ceasefire could be reached “in the coming days, before the fifth”, referring to the US presidential election on 5 November.
Officials are hopeful that there is new leeway for a deal after Hezbollah reportedly shifted its position, with a Lebanon ceasefire no longer contingent on an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Hezbollah’s new leader Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that the group would agree to a ceasefire with Israel, but his fighters were ready for a “very long and hard war”.
