Lebanese civilians are fleeing areas of southern Lebanon beyond the immediate border area.
The IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari explained that Hezbollah was preparing to fire on Israel from the area, and he warned civilians who were near its weapons caches: “Get away from there, for the sake of your safety and security. Hezbollah intends to fire those munitions toward Israeli territory, and we will not allow this.”" Hagari added that Israel “will do whatever is needed to return the residents of the north home safe ... We are preparing to strike terror targets in the Beqaa Valley in the near future. Hezbollah stores strategic weapons there, in civilian buildings, and uses the population as a human shield and knowingly puts it in danger.”
Hagari added that “every home” hit by the Israeli Air Force today was used by Hezbollah to store weapons, as reported by The Times of Israel.
he also said that “The sights that are now seen in southern Lebanon are Hezbollah’s weapons exploding inside houses. Every home we struck, there are rockets, drones, missiles, which were intended to kill Israeli civilians.”
In an Arabic message, Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, addressed the residents of Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, “If you are inside or near a house containing Hezbollah weapons, you must leave… within two hours to a distance of no less than 1,000 meters outside the village, or go to the central school near you and do not return until further notice.”
Roi Kais reported that "Lebanese channels Al-Jadeed, MTV, and LBC (not channels particularly identified with Hezbollah) broadcast the statement of IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari." He also said that "The Lebanese government is reporting that some schools will be converted into shelters for those displaced from southern Lebanon due to the Israeli attack."
In Beirut, there was a mad dash and clogged traffic as parents raced to pick up their children from school.
Lebanon’s health ministry has ordered hospitals in southern Lebanon to suspend all elective surgeries in order to make room for the wounded, according to the New York Times.
