Panic in Beirut as Israel warns people to evacuate from the city’s southern suburbs

By ABBY SEWELL and FADI TAWIL

BEIRUT (AP) — Traffic was gridlocked in Lebanon ‘s capital on Thursday as panicked residents tried to flee after Israel’s military ordered people from all of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate, apparently signaling plans for a major bombardment of the area.

The order for the area known as Dahiyeh advised residents to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” and specified which routes residents of different areas could take toward central Beirut and further north.

Since the resurgence of hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, Israel has struck sites in Beirut’s suburbs and issued a blanket warning for residents south of the Litani River — an area in southern Lebanon stretching to the border with Israel — to evacuate their homes, but had not previously issued a blanket evacuation order for Beirut’s southern suburbs.