The Israeli military warned residents to leave Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, instructing them to move north and east of the Lebanese capital, the first time Israel has issued a warning covering entire neighbourhoods in the Hezbollah-controlled area.

“Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X, posting a map highlighting four neighbourhoods of the southern suburbs - an area adjacent to Beirut airport.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire, sparking intensified Israeli airstrikes largely focused on the southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and eastern Lebanon.