"You are in close proximity to interests and facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist group," Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said.
The Israeli military has ordered residents of three neighborhoods in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Lebanese armed Islamist movement Hezbollah, to evacuate their buildings for their safety. "You are in close proximity to interests and facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist group and, therefore, [the army] will act with force against them," Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a video posted on social media on Monday, September 30. "For your safety and that of your family members, you must immediately evacuate the buildings and move away from them at least 500 meters." Follow our live feed.
Ground operations in southern Lebanon. Israel is "currently" conducting an intervention targeting Hezbollah near the border, the US State Department announced. His spokesman Matthew Miller spoke of "limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border," after conversations between the Jewish state and the United States on the subject. The spokesman declined to provide details of these conversations, leaving it to Israel "to speak about its military operations." "We have had conversations with them about these operations, but [on] the timing, the objective, the pace of these operations, let them speak," he said.
The Israeli army is closing areas near Lebanon. The General Staff has declared three "closed military zones" on the border with Lebanon, around the towns of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi. "Entry into this zone is prohibited" in these towns located in the far north of the country, the army said in its statement. At the time of these announcements, Israel was continuing its bombing campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Peacekeepers forced to stop patrols. The more than 10,000 troops of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) can no longer carry out their mission due to the intensity of the fighting, announced the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric. "Our UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in position in the mission's area of responsibility, while the intensity of the fighting prevents their movements and their ability to carry out their tasks."
Jean-Noël Barrot "urges" Israel not to launch a ground incursion into Lebanon. During an official visit to Beirut (Lebanon), French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called on Israel to "refrain from any ground incursion" into Lebanon and to "cease fire." He called on Hezbollah to do the same, urging both sides to "seize now" the ceasefire proposal launched at the UN. Any new Israeli military intervention in Lebanon "must be avoided", the EU's foreign ministers also said, following a videoconference meeting.
Hezbollah says it will continue the fight against Israel. Hezbollah is "ready" to face an Israeli ground offensive, the group's number two said. Naim Qassem also said in a speech that the Lebanese Islamist group would continue its fight against Israel in "support" of Gaza and will choose a successor to Hassan Nasrallah "at the first opportunity".
Some 100,000 people have fled Lebanon. "The number of people who have crossed Lebanon to go to Syria has reached 100,000," announced the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) while the Israeli army has intensified its bombings in Lebanon for a week to allow, according to it, the return of its inhabitants displaced by the exchanges of fire with Hezbollah.