Beirut: Lebanon witnessed a significant Israeli military escalation today, including scattered airstrikes on areas in the south and the capital, Beirut. These strikes were accompanied by Israeli warnings to evacuate residential buildings in downtown Beirut.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the death toll from Israeli bombardments of Lebanon since the beginning of the war has risen to 687, with 1,774 wounded. A field correspondent reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the town of Haniyeh in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army issued a warning to residents of southern Lebanon, urging them to move north of the Zahrani River.

Other airstrikes targeted towns and villages in the south, including Arki in the Sidon district, resulting in several deaths and injuries. The city of Khiam and the towns of Tuffahta and Bint Jbeil were also targeted. In an initial count, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that nine people were killed and seven others wounded in the airstrike on Arki, while another airstrike on Bint Jbeil resulted in three deaths. The ministry also reported that five people were killed and seven others wounded in an airstrike targeting the town of Aramoun in the Aley district of Mount Lebanon.

In Beirut, an Israeli airstrike targeted the Laylaki area in the southern suburbs, near the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Sciences, killing the faculty’s director, Dr. Hussein Bazzi, and Dr. Murtada Srour. Another airstrike targeted the Ramlet al-Bayda area, killing 12 people and wounding 28 others, according to the Ministry of Health.

Prior to some of the airstrikes, the Israeli army issued urgent warnings to residents of neighborhoods in the capital, including Bashoura and Zuqaq al-Blat, demanding the evacuation of specific buildings and those within a 300-meter radius. The areas surrounding the threatened buildings witnessed displacement among residents amid heightened tensions. Local sources reported that the threatened building in Zuqaq al-Blat is located approximately 150 meters from the Grand Serail (Government Palace) and about 200 meters from the Parliament building.

The Lebanese Civil Defense also reported receiving a call from the Israeli army demanding the evacuation of residents of the town of Sajd in southern Lebanon from their homes.