BEIRUT: Huge numbers of people fled Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning and said it was striking underground drone factories belonging to Hezbollah.

The streets around the area were seen jammed with traffic as residents tried to leave, with Lebanese media reporting Israeli warning strikes.

“You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” said the warning from the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee.

“For your safety and the safety of your families, you are required to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them at a distance of no less than 300 meters.”

In a separate statement, the army said it would “soon carry out a strike on underground UAV (drone) production infrastructure sites that were deliberately established in the heart of (the) civilian population” in Beirut.

Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah engaged in more than a year of hostilities that began with the outbreak of the Gaza war and culminated in an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

A November ceasefire sought to end the fighting — which left Hezbollah severely weakened — but Israel has continued to regularly carry out strikes in Lebanon’s south.

Strikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, considered a Hezbollah stronghold, have been rare, however.

“Following Hezbollah’s extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the state of Israel, the terrorist organization is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war,” the army statement said, calling the activities “a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle their military posts to the south.

Israel was to pull all its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic” along the frontier.

The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure there, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” in the area.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar emphasized his country’s commitment to cooperating with the UN peacekeeping mission, particularly “during this critical phase.”

Hajjar’s comments were made during a meeting with Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

In a significant development, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday named Maj. Gen. Diodato Abagnara to succeed Lazaro. 

Guterres expressed his gratitude to Lazaro for his dedication and leadership of UNIFIL during a particularly challenging period the mission has faced.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the number of UNIFIL troops was increased from 200 to 15,000 following the 2006 war.

The number of peacekeepers was eventually reduced to 10,058, made up of troops from 50 countries.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate on Aug. 31, amid increasing calls to restructure the peacekeepers’ role and responsibilities to better align with the current situation in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement.

During the conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which lasted from October 2023 until a ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2024, UNIFIL faced a series of targeted attacks from Israel. The Israeli government accused UNIFIL of “failing to carry out its duties in the area of deployment.”

UNIFIL also came under Hezbollah fire during the Israeli ground offensive.

Incidents of UNIFIL patrols being intercepted and even attacked by residents in towns within their area of deployment increased.

These incidents occurred under the pretext that the forces were “not accompanied by the Lebanese Army,” despite UNIFIL’s assertion that “all its patrols are coordinated with the army.” Additionally, Hezbollah seemed to have a role in these civilian interceptions.

During his meeting with Lazaro, Hajjar reaffirmed the ongoing cooperation between the Lebanese state and the international forces stationed south of the Litani River in implementing Resolution 1701 in all its provisions.

Hajjar during the meeting underlined Lebanon’s commitment to the highest levels of cooperation with the mission.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, several Israeli army Hummer vehicles advanced toward the orchards of Al-Wazzani town, where they remained for some time before withdrawing. Later, the Israeli forces launched seven mortar shells at the western outskirts of Al-Wazzani.

Specialized units of the Lebanese army moved and detonated a missile left behind by previous Israeli air raids in the Marjayoun region of southern Lebanon.