Beirut’s Suburb under Fire: Evacuation Warnings, Warning Shots, and Destruction

The sound of bombardments reignites nightmares in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a region regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold, where daily life is disrupted by airstrikes and explosions.

On Friday morning, a new airstrike targeted Beirut’s southern suburb following an evacuation warning issued by the Israeli army, according to an AFP photographer who witnessed smoke columns rising from the area.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that “hostile warplanes launched a violent airstrike with two missiles on the Bourj el-Barajneh area.”

After the Israeli evacuation warning, gunfire was heard near the suburb to alert residents and urge them to leave the area, according to the AFP correspondent.

Later, a building in the suburb collapsed following the Israeli strike, as confirmed by FBTV live broadcast service, affiliated with the agency.

Tracking Hezbollah

The bombing followed hours after Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation warning accompanied by maps, urging residents of the area to leave.

In the warning, he stated: “To all residents in the southern suburb, especially those in the buildings marked on the attached maps and the nearby buildings in the Ghobeiry area… You are near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah.”

He added: “For your safety and the safety of your family, you must immediately evacuate these buildings and the adjacent areas, keeping at least 500 meters away.”

The attached maps identified buildings near Al-Bustan High School.

The repeated Israeli strikes on the southern suburb have triggered a wave of civilian displacement, although some return during the day to check on their homes and businesses.

The Israeli army announced Thursday that it had struck approximately 30 targets in the southern suburb over the past 48 hours after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.

Since the start of the exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel in October 2023, more than 3,360 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

A year after Hezbollah opened a cross-border front in support of its ally, Hamas, in Gaza, Tel Aviv intensified its airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in southern and eastern Lebanon as well as in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 23.

On September 30, Israel announced the start of “limited” ground operations.