The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered all residents of the ancient eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek to leave ahead of expected strikes.
This is the first time the residents of a Lebanese city in its entirety have been ordered to leave, after orders on large swathes of Tyre, also known as Sour in southern Lebanon, and parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The order also covers the area where Baalbek’s famed Roman ruins, which include one of the world’s largest standing Roman temples, are located.
Streets around the city are currently jammed with cars as residents desperately flee to potentially safer areas, though Israel has previously carried out strikes on displacement shelters and has shut down several land crossings to neighbouring Syria.
Civil defence vehicles drove around the city urging everyone to leave immediately over loudspeaker, according to AFP.
Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah activity in the city, without providing evidence.
The warnings come after a night of intense Israeli attacks on Baalbek and its surrounding area on Monday that killed 60 people, the largest single-day death toll in the area since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on 8 October 2023.
The situation escalated significantly last month, when Israel launched a widespread bombing campaign across Lebanon following by a ground invasion in October. At least 2,792 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Baalbek is yet another Unesco-listed city to be subject to heavy Israeli attacks after days of devastating bombing on Sour, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Baalbek’s mayor Bachir Khodr asked residents to either head to Arsal in the northeast or to Lebanon’s North Governorate, where many residents have gone for shelter over the course of the war.
Speaking to Al Araby TV, Khodr said they “hope [Israel] will not target the ancient Roman citadel of Baalbek”, which includes a castle, temples and other ruins.
But he warned residents against seeking shelter there “because it is not safe”.
