Israel began evacuating residents in the north on Monday amid escalating conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah military group in the border area, APA reports citing Xinhua.
The Israeli-Lebanese border has seen an escalation of tensions since last week as Hezbollah fired tens of rockets at Israeli military sites on Oct. 8 in support of an onslaught by the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel on Oct. 7.
Hezbollah on Monday announced that it targeted five Israeli sites with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns and inflicted Israeli injuries, to which Israel responded by firing seven missiles toward Hezbollah positions in the border town of Rmeish and shelling several Lebanese areas.
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Ministry told residents of 28 towns living within 2 kilometers of the Israeli-Lebanese border to evacuate, adding that the residents would stay in guesthouses subsidized by the state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and its backed Hezbollah not to launch a war against Israel. "We have a message for Iran and Hezbollah: Do not test us in the north. Do not repeat your previous mistake because the price you need to pay will be much higher," Netanyahu said at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday warned that opening a war front in southern Lebanon is "of no one's interest."
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