ANKARA

The Israeli army issued a warning on Friday to residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon, ordering them to evacuate their homes and move north of the Awali River.

In a statement posted on X, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee listed the affected villages, which include Tyre Harfa, Alama Al-Shaab, and Naqoura.

Adraee cited what he called “activities of Hezbollah” as the primary reason for the evacuation order.

Over 1.2 million people are reportedly currently displaced in Lebanon, fleeing Israeli attacks or obeying its orders to evacuate, or both. International observers have decried the situation, saying the orders may be war crimes, and that such a massive displacement threatens a humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel since Sept. 23 has dramatically escalated its massive bombing campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi