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IDF orders Southern Lebanon residents north of Zahrani River

The directive comes amid intensifying Hezbollah firing at Israeli territory.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on a terrorist target in Douris, two miles southwest of Baalbek, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on March 12, 2026. Photo by Nidal Solh/AFP via Getty Images.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on a terrorist target in Douris, two miles southwest of Baalbek, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on March 12, 2026. Photo by Nidal Solh/AFP via Getty Images.

The Israel Defense Forces issued an unprecedented directive on Thursday ordering all residents of Southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Zahrani River.

IDF Arabic-language Spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee announced the warning in a message posted on X, citing intensified Hezbollah activity in the area.

The IDF “does not intend to harm civilians,” he said, urging immediate evacuation “for your safety” and warning that anyone near Hezbollah sites or operatives “is putting their life in danger.”

The order marks the first time Israel has instructed all civilians north of the Zahrani River, which runs north of the Litani River and enters the Mediterranean Sea about nine miles south of Sidon.

It comes amid continued Hezbollah rocket and drone firing, as well as Iranian missile launches into Israel on Thursday. Sirens sounded in the afternoon in Safed and nearby towns in the Galilee as the Iranian terrorist proxy launched a rocket across the border with no injuries reported.

No injuries were reported in Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on Israel Thursday afternoon, the fifth since midnight. A small number of enemy missiles were launched and intercepted, according to initial military assessments. Air-raid sirens sounded across central Israel during the attack.

Hezbollah terrorists launched their largest barrage of missiles and drones at Israel overnight on Wednesday since the start of the current war on Feb. 28, in what Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said was a combined attack from Lebanon and Iran.

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