Throughout Thursday, Israeli raids primarily targeted South Lebanon, and evacuation orders, allegedly issued by the Israeli army, caused panic in several areas.
From 3 PM, panic spread among those working or residing in downtown Beirut. Organizations and institutions, including the offices of al-Jazeera, received successive anonymous calls urging them to evacuate. The exits from Beirut were congested, with some people taking over two hours to leave the area.
Earlier on Thursday, the headquarters of the Court of Auditors, located a few meters away in the Kantari neighborhood, was temporarily evacuated after receiving similar anonymous calls.
Institutions and organizations in the Hamra district also received threatening phone calls, which proved to be false, according to security sources quoted by Reuters.
On the ground, Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern Beirut suburb maintained a precarious calm, while the Beqaa region in east Lebanon witnessed a morning and night punctuated by intense Israeli raids, resulting in a high number of casualties.
In the evening, two Israeli strikes targeted the towns of Harabta and al-Ayn.
Intense Israeli airstrikes continued in South Lebanon on Thursday, targeting several towns and villages, including the district of Nabatiyeh, which has been hardly hit over the past two days.
The heaviest strike hit a commercial complex, located on the Harouf-Jabshit main road, destroying it completely.
An hour earlier, the Israeli army Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichai Adraee, had called for the fifth time that morning for the residents of Harouf to "immediately evacuate the area," underlining their proximity to "Hezbollah-affiliated facilities and interests."
Meanwhile, Nabatiyeh’s governor, Howaida Turk, requested the immediate evacuation of all administrative offices in the Nabatiyeh serail, "to ensure the safety of employees working in the crisis management cell,” charging that the Israeli army "has no regard for civilians, their rights, or humanitarian principles."
An urgent evacuation order by the Israeli army to the residents of the Wardanieh region in Iqlim al-Kharroub, Chouf district, sent panic waves across the entire region, leading to a quick exodus of the panic-stricken inhabitants.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the town of Blida, located in the Marjayoun district, and in the Israeli town of Ramot Naftali.
Hezbollah also targeted, twice in a row, a "gathering of Israeli soldiers at the entrance to the Israeli town of Misgav Am with a barrage of rockets."
Israeli media reported that the army "faced two new security incidents at the northern border with Lebanon in the past few hours," without providing further details.
It also stated that "five Israeli soldiers were killed and fifteen others injured during fighting in southern Lebanon."
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