Israeli military warns of operations on southern Lebanon’s coast

Israel’s military on Monday said it would soon launch operations on Lebanon’s southern coast, which would mark a further escalation of its fight against Hezbollah.

“Urgent warning to vacationers, beachgoers, and anyone using boats for fishing or any other use from the Awali River line southward, the IDF will soon operate in the maritime area against Hezbollah’s terrorist activities,” Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic spokesperson, warned in a post on the social platform X.

“For your safety, refrain from being in the sea or on the beach from now until further notice. Being on the beach and boat movements in the area of ​​the Awali River line southward pose a danger to your life.”

The warning, which applies to a 36-mile stretch along the Mediterranean, comes on the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack into Israel from the Gaza strip, which killed nearly 1,200 people — the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

The Oct. 7, 2023, raid — which also saw the abduction of 250 people, 100 of whom are still being held as hostages — set off a brutal air and ground campaign against Hamas in Gaza and sparked a simmering conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon that has rapidly escalated in recent weeks.

Israel has been trading cross-border fire with Hezbollah over the past year, but last month stepped up its bombing across Lebanon and began a limited ground campaign just over its shared border, threatening to tip the region into a wider war. 

On Monday, Israeli fighter jets hit Hezbollah positions inland in southern Lebanon with more than 120 strikes in an hour.

Separate from its coastal warning, Israel’s military also told residents in several neighborhoods south of Beirut to evacuate Monday night local time.

“For your safety and the safety of your families, you must evacuate these buildings and the surrounding ones immediately and move at least 500 meters away from them,” Adraee said in a post on X that showed a map of the area and marked buildings.

The ongoing Israeli strikes — which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, killed some 1,400 people and displaced another 1.2 million — have drawn the ire of Iran, which last week hurled a barrage of some 180 missiles at Israel.

Israel’s leaders have vowed to respond to the strikes. In a speech to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel will “continue to fight.”

“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 repeated his country’s war goals, including eliminating Hamas as well as “any future threat from Gaza to Israel,” returning the hostages still captive in Gaza, and returning Israelis who have been displaced. 

Israel’s stated mission in its operations against Hezbollah is to push back the military group from Lebanon’s border with Israel so that Israelis can return to their homes in the country’s northern border region.