The IDF on Thursday issued an unusual evacuation warning for several neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh, a stronghold of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, urging residents to immediately leave their homes ahead of potential strikes.
In a message posted in Arabic on social media, IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee called on residents in the neighborhoods of Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath to move east toward Mount Lebanon along the Beirut–Damascus highway. Residents of Haret Hreik and Chiyah were instructed to head north toward Tripoli via the Beirut–Tripoli highway or east toward Mount Lebanon using the Metn highway.
IDF orders mass evacuation in Hezbollah stronghold ahead of strikes
“Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” Adraee wrote. “Movement southward is prohibited. Any movement south could endanger your lives. We will inform you when it is safe to return.”
The evacuation order covers large parts of Dahieh, though not the entire district, which is widely considered a Hezbollah stronghold.
Israeli defense officials said the warning precedes what is expected to be a large-scale strike in the area, describing the planned operation as one of the most dramatic developments so far in the fighting along the northern front.
Officials also said such evacuation warnings increase internal pressure on Hezbollah, as they force large civilian populations in its strongholds to flee ahead of Israeli strikes.
The warning came as Lebanon’s government announced new steps targeting Iranian influence in the country. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he had requested that authorities take “all necessary measures” to prevent any military activity by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Lebanese territory.
Lebanon’s information minister, Paul Morcos, said the government has instructed relevant ministries to investigate the presence of IRGC members in the country and to arrest and deport them if they are found operating there. Morcos said any members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps found in Lebanon will be arrested.
Morcos also said the government decided to reinstate visa requirements for Iranian citizens entering Lebanon.
Salam appeared to criticize Hezbollah over the country’s involvement in the escalating conflict, saying those responsible had “dragged Lebanon into adventures we could have done without, serving foreign interests.”
Morcos said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
First published: 14:52, 03.05.26