The Israeli army said on Monday it would soon launch operations on Lebanon’s southern coast, marking a further escalation of the fight against Hezbollah.
“Urgent warning to vacationers, beachgoers and anyone using boats for fishing or for any other use from the Awali River southwards: the IDF will soon operate in the maritime area against Hezbollah’s terrorist activities,” warned Avichay Adraee, the Arab spokesman for the army. A post on the social platform X.
“For your safety, from now on until further notice you are not allowed to be in the sea or on the beach. Being on the beach and boat movement in the Awali River area to the south is a danger to your life.
The warning, which applies to a 58-kilometre stretch of road along the Mediterranean Sea, comes on the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip that killed nearly 1,200 people – the deadliest attack in the country’s history .
The October 7, 2023 raid – which also saw the kidnapping of 250 people, 100 of whom are still held as hostages – sparked a brutal air and ground campaign against Hamas in Gaza and sparked a simmering conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is the has escalated rapidly in recent weeks.
Israel has traded cross-border fire with Hezbollah over the past year, but last month stepped up its bombing of Lebanon and began a limited ground campaign just across the shared border, threatening to plunge the region into a wider war.
On Monday, Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah positions inland in southern Lebanon with more than 120 attacks in an hour.
Apart from the coastal warning, the Israeli army also ordered residents of several neighborhoods south of Beirut to evacuate on Monday evening local time.
“For your safety and the safety of your families, you must immediately evacuate these buildings and surrounding buildings and move at least 500 meters away from them,” Adraee said in a message on
The ongoing Israeli attacks – which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, killed some 1,400 people and displaced another 1.2 million – have angered Iran, which launched a barrage last week of about 180 rockets hurled at Israel.
Israeli leaders have vowed to respond to the attacks. In a speech marking the anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel “will keep fighting.”
“As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony in Ofakim, Israel. “As long as our hostages are still in Gaza, we will continue to fight.”
Netanyahu also reiterated his country’s war aims, including eliminating Hamas and “any future threat from Gaza to Israel,” returning hostages still held captive in Gaza, and returning Israelis who have been displaced.
Israel’s mission in its operations against Hezbollah is to push the military group back from the Lebanese border with Israel so that Israelis can return to their homes in the country’s northern border region.
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