(Reuters) – The Israeli military ordered residents of 22 southern Lebanese villages on Saturday to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows from the western Bekaa Valley into the Mediterranean.
The order, communicated via a military statement, mentions villages in southern Lebanon that have been recent targets of Israeli attacks, many of which are already almost empty.
The Israeli military stated that evacuations were necessary for the safety of residents due to increased Hezbollah activities, claiming the group is using sites to conceal weapons and launch attacks on Israel. Hezbollah denies concealing its weapons among civilians.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, has dramatically escalated over the past month.
Intensified Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut have forced approximately 1.2 million people from their homes since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese government.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Saturday that more Lebanese have now been displaced than during the last major war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, when around 1 million fled their homes.
(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Adam Makary; Editing by Peter Graff)
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