Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.11 miles) of the border between the countries in a message posted on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early on Friday.
Hezbollah's message came less than a day after Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's southern suburbs, a known Hezbollah stronghold, prompting an exodus from a swathe of the capital known as Dahiyeh which Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would soon resemble parts of Gaza.
"You wanted to bring hell on us but you have brought hell upon yourselves. The Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis. Our northern residents will soon live in quiet, peace and security," said Smotrich, who sits on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet.
Roads out of the suburbs were clogged as people fled by car and on foot, television footage showed. The sound of warning shots could be heard in the southern suburbs, exhorting residents to leave.
"Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately," Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted on X, saying that any movement southwards may endanger their lives.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then launched a wave of strikes across Lebanon late Thursday..
Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire, sparking Israeli airstrikes focused on Beirut's southern suburbs and on southern and eastern Lebanon.
"Your military's aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged," Hezbollah said.
Israel has said it will not evacuate its border towns and has sent more soldiers into Lebanon, saying this was a defensive measure meant to protect its citizens who live nearby.
Aliyyeh Hijazi, 66, said she fled her village in southern Lebanon at the start of the week for the city of Sidon in the south, before moving again to a relative's home in Dahiyeh, only to flee again after Thursday's warning.
"Our lives are over, especially those of us from the south. They say the southerner is very strong, but now the southerner can't bear it anymore," said the mother of 10, speaking to Reuters in Beirut's Martyrs Square where many of the displaced gathered, among them women and children wearing backpacks.
Israeli bombardment and warnings have already forced tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee homes in the southern suburbs and the south this week.
The Lebanese health ministry said 102 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, said on Wednesday that seven children had been killed.
There have been no reports of fatalities in Israel as a result of Hezbollah attacks.
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Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that talks with Pakistan had been positive, while Türkiye stressed the importance of stronger ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
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