Israel army issues new evacuation call for Lebanon's Baalbek region

The Israeli military on Sunday called for the evacuation of the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon, warning that it was ready to strike Hezbollah targets there and in nearby Douris.

The latest evacuation call came as the military's Home Front Command activated sirens at regular intervals along the border as dozens of projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory since Sunday morning.

The military said its forces continued to carry out  "targeted raids" in southern Lebanon aimed at eliminating Hezbollah fighters.

"You are currently located near the facilities and assets associated with Hezbollah, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be targeting in the near future," the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X addressed to residents of Baalbek and Douris.

The Israeli air force intercepted several projectiles that were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, while some fell in open areas, the military said in a statement.

On Thursday, rocket fire from Lebanon killed seven people in the town of Metula in northern Israel, including four Thai farmers.

The military said its forces were carrying out targeted raids in southern Lebanon, and on the night of Saturday to Sunday they located "numerous weapons" stored in a building in southern Lebanon.

"The troops are continuing to encounter terrorists during close-quarters combat in complex terrain and eliminate them using precise munitions, directed by IAF (air force) aircraft and supported by ... field intelligence soldiers," the military said in a statement on Sunday.

Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah have been locked in a deadly war since September 23 that has killed more than 1,900 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.

Israel's military says 38 soldiers have been killed in the Lebanon campaign since it began ground operations on September 30.

Clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters first erupted on October 8 last year when the Lebanese group began firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas, a day after the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza.

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's sweeping military response against Hamas has led to the deaths of 43,341 Palestinians in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations consider to be reliable.