Israel orders residents to leave southern Beirut

BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Thursday, sparking panic as people fled a swathe of the Lebanese capital on the fourth day of full-scale hostilities between the Iran-backed group and Israel.

An Israeli military spokesperson, in a post on X, ordered residents of the southern suburbs to move east and north, posting a map showing four sprawling districts of the capital he said they must leave, part of the area is adjacent to Beirut airport.

"Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately," Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted, saying that any movement southwards may endanger their lives.

Roads out of the suburbs were clogged as people fled by car and on foot, television footage showed. Gunfire was heard in the southern suburbs, warning residents to leave.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire, sparking intensified Israeli airstrikes largely focused on the southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and eastern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave an area of southern Lebanon amounting to about 8% of its territory.

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 has said 77 people have been killed.

There have been no reports of fatalities in Israel as a result of Hezbollah attacks.

Beirut's predominantly Shi'ite Muslim southern suburbs are among the capital's mostdensely populated areas. The area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes during a war with Hezbollah in 2024, and during a previous war with Israel in 2006.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Sharon Singleton)