Israel Orders Residents of Baalbek in Eastern Lebanon to Evacuate

Israel’s military warned residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon to evacuate on Wednesday, two days after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people in the city and the region around it.Baalbek, which had a population of roughly 80,000 people before Israel stepped up its attacks on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this month, is an important urban center in the Bekaa Valley and is famed for its towering Roman ruins.It is also well known as a city where Hezbollah holds sway.

But unlike other places where the group enjoys support, Baalbek has largely been spared Israeli bombardment.In a statement posted online on Wednesday, Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, signaled that this would no longer be the case.He posted a map showing the city and two neighboring towns, Ain Bourday and Douris, as part of a danger zone marked in red, with three evacuation routes authorized by the Israeli military.“The I.D.F.

will act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages and does not intend to harm you,” Mr.Adraee said.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move outside the city and villages.”The evacuation warning comes two days after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 60 people in the Bekaa district, which includes the city and its rural hinterland, Lebanese officials said.Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 58 others were injured in the attacks.As people in Baalbek received the evacuation warnings by text message late Wednesday morning, a sense of alarm seized the streets of the city, according to Ibrahim Bayan, a deputy to the mayor in Baalbek.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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