Terrified civilians flee homes as Israeli offensive plunges Lebanon into hell amid WW3 fears

Israeli troops ordered an entire city and 20 villages to evacuate on Thursday as war in southern descended further into hell.

Civilians are fleeing homes north of a UN-declared buffer zone as signalled its ground offensive may be much wider than previously thought. Escalating chaos and conflict in Lebanon comes as the Middle East braces for Israel’s revenge in response to Iran’s missile onslaught earlier this week.

In Lebanon, troops are trying to drive back Hezbollah from the south to stop missile strikes that have driven more than 70,000 Israelis from their homes. More than a million Lebanese have already fled, fearing Israel’s long-awaited ground attack could turn much of the south into a new hellscape.

Israel struck Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut as it ordered civilians in Lebanese villages north of the UN's buffer zone to evacuate 'immediately.' Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported three air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, thought to be an evacuated media relations office.

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The IDF separately warned Lebanese people to evacuate more than 20 villages and the city of Nabatiyeh, which are north of the UN's buffer zone. Army spokesman Avichay Andraee declared on social media: “For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River. Save your lives.”

Violence in Lebanon comes after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the south which has killed more than 1,000 people and forced many to flee their homes. At least eight soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of a claimed limited ground incursion.

The entire region was meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile attack- which could start a massive regional war. The Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli strike wounded four of its paramedics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they were evacuating wounded people from the south. It said the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted despite coordinating its movements with U.N. peacekeepers.

Another Lebanese soldier was killed by Israeli fire at an army post in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, according to the Lebanese military, which said it returned fire. A Lebanese security official said the army post was hit by artillery fire. An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut late Wednesday killed nine people, including seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it had struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts. It said the strikes killed at least 15 Hezbollah fighters. So far, ground clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have been confined to a narrow strip along the border.

But hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, as Israel has warned people to evacuate from dozens of villages and towns in the south. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah after nearly a year of rocket attacks that began October 8 and displaced some 60,000 Israelis from communities in the north.

Hundreds more airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon since mid-September have killed at least 1,276 people, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The vast majority of recent strikes have been in areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, Violence in Lebanon has opened a second front between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that began nearly a year ago with Hamas' surprise October 7 attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

And war is still raging in Gaza where a Hamas kingpin behind the notorious lynching of two Israeli soldiers almost 25 years ago has been killed. Aziz Salha, 43, died in an airstrike, according to the military and Israel’s security agency Shin Bet. The notorious Palestinian helped kill the two soldiers in the West Bank in 2000 but his reign came to a bloody end in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. The deaths of the two Israeli soldiers in 2000 were horrific. Soldiers Sgt. First Class (res.) Yosef Avrahami and Cpl. (Res.) Vadim Norzhic were killed in October 2000 after taking a wrong turn and ended up in the Palestinian-controlled city of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Salha was seen proudly displaying his blood-soaked hands to a mob following the lynching of the two reserve soldiers. He was detained by Israel in 2001, sentenced to life in prison and eventually exiled to Gaza in a 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 terror convicts for captive soldier Gilad Shalit.

The IDF and Shin Bet say that Salha had been advancing terror attacks in the West Bank from Gaza in recent years. Both Israel and the United States have said there will be severe consequences for this week’s Iranian missile attack, which lightly wounded two people and killed a Palestinian.

The United States has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel. President said he did not expect Israel to retaliate against Iran on Thursday and rejected the suggestion that the U.S. would grant permission for such an attack. "First of all, we don't `allow' Israel, we advise Israel," Biden said. "And nothing's going to happen today."

More flights evacuating Brits from Lebanon were expected to depart last night (THU). The first government-chartered plane carrying more than 150 fleeing UK nationals arrived at Birmingham International airport on 8.40pm on Wednesday evening.

Samia Ydlibi - one of those who managed to secure a seat on the aircraft - was born in but has lived in Lebanon for 30 years. She told the : "It's crazy, so surreal. I couldn't take it anymore. It was really, really nerve-racking and I'm very, very sad to go. But I'm coming back."

Amal Zahereddine, 18, who arrived with her two sisters, added: "Right now there is no way we can stay. The noises, the situation, is just getting very traumatising so we have no choice."

The Foreign Office said yesterday (THU) flights will continue for "as long as the security situation allows" - but there are concerns over how long Beirut-Rafic Hariri International airport can remain open. If that happens, the Government could be forced to begin a military-led evacuation, led from British bases in Cyprus.

Yesterday Foreign Secretary said: "Recent events have demonstrated the volatility of the situation in Lebanon. The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our number one priority. That's why we are announcing additional chartered flights to help those who want to leave. I urge all British nationals still in Lebanon to register with the FCDO (Foreign Office) and leave the country immediately."

The Foreign Office said its officials - some of whom have been sent to Cyprus - have been "working round the lock in London, Beirut and the wider region to provide support to British nationals".

Meanwhile, former PM called for Gaza to be governed by an unspecified third party to end the conflict there. He told Politico that Gaza should be governed by neither Israel nor Hamas, but rather by an unspecified third party as part of a peace deal to “begin a process of reconstruction”.