Israel's Smotrich threatens Beirut suburbs amid evacuation orders

"Smotrich warned that the Dahiyeh area would soon look like Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza that has been decimated in Israel's genocidal war against Palestinians in the enclave. The southern suburbs will become like Khan Younis, the Israeli minister said."

"It's unprecedented that the Israeli army would order this forced evacuation order for the southern suburbs of Beirut, Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reported from Beirut, noting that more than 400,000 people live in the area. There isn't really anywhere for them to go quickly, Smith said of the Lebanese families that have been forced to flee."

"There's gridlock on the roads as people try to move out, but how Israel thinks all of those people are going to leave quickly is difficult to understand. Israel's forced evacuation order in Beirut comes a day after the country issued a similar directive for all of southern Lebanon, spurring a wave of mass displacement."

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to transform Dahiyeh, southern Beirut's suburbs, into another Khan Younis, a devastated Gaza city. The Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders for multiple neighborhoods including Burj al-Barajneh, al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, and Shiyah, affecting over 400,000 residents. People scrambled to evacuate with limited time and resources, creating severe road gridlock. This unprecedented evacuation order follows similar directives for southern Lebanon. The escalation occurred amid intensified cross-border conflict after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel following Iran's Supreme Leader's death in attacks by the United States and Israel.

Read at www.aljazeera.com