Haret Saida, Lebanon — Warnings to flee come suddenly: messages pinging on thousands of phones, automated calls from strange numbers, difficult-to-read maps shared on social media by Israeli military spokesmen.
Some maps cover a wide area of Lebanon; Others show specific buildings. Sometimes There is no warning at all before the strikes, which continue despite nominal armistice Between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.
The warnings trigger a rush to gather children and older relatives, and families are left with agonizing choices as they search for the blurry edges of red-colored maps. entire villages have become empty More than one million people are migrating At the height of the battle. unlike israelThere are no air raid sirens or missile defenses in Lebanon, and no designated bomb shelters.
Israel says the warnings are intended to keep civilians out of harm’s way. It said Hezbollah had deployed fighters, tunnels and weapons to civilian areas in southern Lebanon, from where it launched Hundreds of drones and missiles – Without any warning – in northern Israel.
International law experts say Israel’s warnings are inconsistent and often overly broad and open-ended. They also come just as Israel says plan to capture Create a 10-kilometre (6-mile) wide buffer zone along the border and prevent people from returning until the threat from Hezbollah is eliminated.
The latest war began on March 2, after its fire was brought under control. 2024 ceasefireHezbollah launches a surprise bombardment of missiles in northern Israel in retaliation for the United States and Israel attack on iran.
Israel has since posted 132 online alerts – including seven covering more than 50 cities in southern Lebanon – since the ceasefire. Came into effect on 17th April.
Residents say narrowly targeted warnings often come at short notice, causing chaos and confusion.
Ward Zein al-Din, 56, said that minutes after his father received the call from the Israeli army, he heard the sound of shrapnel breaking glass, causing him to scream. They have since fled their southern village and taken refuge in a school. “I didn’t think we would survive,” she said.
Then there are maps shared on social media by Israel’s Arabic-speaking military spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichai Adrai, urging the entire population to relocate north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and in some cases even further north.
His sweeping warnings also caused the Beirut crowd to evacuate southern suburbsWhere Hezbollah has a strong presence, although many have returned. The United Nations says large numbers of people are displaced across the country, including more than 150,000 in tent camps.
“A legal instrument is being used to achieve forced displacement,” said Hussein Badreddine, a Lebanese expert on international law at the University of Sydney. “When you evacuate the entire area and keep the orders open, that’s when the legality comes into question.”
In response to several questions, the Israeli military said it issues warnings via phone, text, radio broadcasts, social media and air-dropped letters, in accordance with “the principles of non-discrimination, proportionality and feasible precautions” under international law.
there was no warning on 8th AprilWhen Israel attacked a hundred targets in rapid succession, More than 350 people killedare included in downtown beirut. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Lebanon’s troubled history.
The army said Hezbollah commanders and operatives “are expected to be present at several sites.” It is unclear how many Hezbollah members were killed. More than 100 women and children were among those killed.
Warning has been given even without strike. Earlier this month, Israel warned that it would attack The main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria was closed for several days. The strike never happened.
When the war broke out, air strikes devastated the village of Kafr Tebnit. Adrai posted on Twitter that residents should “move at least 1,000 meters (yards) out of the village.”
Hussein Faran went to the city of Nabatieh, where he works for an electricity company. His wife, Rola Nahaleh, and their 4-year-old daughter, Amal, joined relatives in Kfar Hatta, about 17 kilometers (10 miles) outside Adrai’s red zone.
A month later, at 11:29 pm on 4 April, Adrai called on residents to leave Kfar Hatta. It was one of 26 urgent warnings posted between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am throughout the war.
Christine Beckerle of Amnesty International said, “When warnings are issued in the middle of the night on platforms that not everyone uses, you can’t expect everyone to get up and leave immediately.” “You have people who are stuck on the road for 12, 13 hours trying to get out. You have elderly people who can’t move quickly enough.”
Nahaleh told her husband on the phone that hundreds of people were running, many of whom were wearing pajamas. They agreed that it was safest to wait until morning to end the chaos.
Two Israeli missiles struck their apartment at about 3 p.m., killing Nahaleh, her mother, father, brother, sister, and Amal, who had just started kindergarten.
“Even if they warned us, how does this justify killing a civilian family?” Faran asked, looking at their graves – cardboard signs wrapped in handwritten Arabic because the war has made proper burial impossible in his village.
“They were not given a real chance,” he said.
At first, Ali al-Salim thought it was a prank call, or some impostor trying to plunder his abandoned house, as had happened to his family during the previous war. The country code read Germany, but the caller identified himself as an Israeli official and told Al-Salim to immediately answer blank.
As the air strikes came closer, al-Salim, his wife and three sons fled their southern village of Sidiqin and, after 18 hours of heavy traffic, reached a school in Haret Saida.
Analysts say Israeli forces often use randomly generated international numbers because phone calls are not technically allowed between the two countries, which have been at war for decades.
“There is no way to know whether the call is real or fake,” said Roland Abi Najem, a Lebanese cybersecurity expert. “The Israeli military benefits from the chaos that facilitates mass migration.”
The army declined to comment on what it called the Lebanese numbers.
Several days after escaping, al-Salim heard that his house had been hit by an Israeli missile. The shelter proved equally dangerous.
One of the targets hit by Israel on April 8 without any warning There was a neighboring Shia mosque, where displaced people used to bathe. The blast left al-Salim’s 14-year-old son Ali unconscious and his left leg amputated.
“Bombing can happen at any moment. There is no security at all,” Ali said, leaning on crutches. “I’ve never felt this kind of fear.”
armistice have done very little To remove it.
Forced to flee his southern hometown of Shakra at the beginning of the war, Mohammed Shahadat waited until a week after the ceasefire to return. Encouraged by neighbors who said the situation was calm, he visited the house last week.
A few days later, he was back in a makeshift tent in Beirut after another Israeli warning.
“We didn’t know where to go,” he said.
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Associated Press journalist Bassam Hatoum contributed.
