By Maya Gebeily, Maayan Lubell and Jana Choukeir
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's southern suburbs, including Hezbollah-controlled areas, on Thursday, prompting an exodus from a swathe of the capital, which a far-right Israeli minister said would soon resemble parts of Gaza.
Suggesting a major escalation looms in Israel's offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, an Israeli military spokesperson told residents of the southern suburbs to move east and north, posting a map showing four large districts of the capital he said they must leave.
Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire, sparking Israeli airstrikes focused on the southern suburbs, and on southern and eastern Lebanon.
"Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately," the military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted on X, saying that any movement southwards may endanger their lives.
Roads out of the suburbs were clogged as people fled by car and on foot, television footage showed. Gunfire was heard in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, warning residents to leave.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video on X from near the Lebanon border, in which he said that Dahiyeh would soon resemble parts of Gaza, where Israel's two-year military campaign against Hezbollah's ally Hamas has left much of the territory in ruins.
"You wanted to bring hell on us but you have brought hell upon yourselves. The Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis. Our northern residents will soon live in quiet, peace and security," said Smotrich, who sits on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet.
The area highlighted in the Israeli military map includes neighbourhoods controlled by Hezbollah but also spreads into adjoining ones.
PEOPLE FLEE TO CENTRAL BEIRUT
While Israel has previously ordered people to leave buildings in Dahiyeh, it is the first time it has instructed residents of the entire area to leave.
Hundreds of displaced people gathered in downtown Beirut near the sea. Many, including women and children, could be seen wearing backpacks. A car drove past with mattresses and blankets strapped to the roof, a Reuters reporter said.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave an area of southern Lebanon amounting to about 8% of its territory.
NEARLY ALL FLIGHTS CANCELLED
Nearly all outgoing and incoming flights to Beirut airport, which is adjacent to the zone identified by the Israeli military, were cancelled for both Thursday evening and Friday.
Some residents of Beirut's southern suburbs told Reuters they had received calls from European numbers playing a recorded message from someone identifying themselves as a member of the Israeli military and telling them to leave their homes.
Beirut's predominantly Shi'ite Muslim southern suburbs are among the capital's most densely populated areas. The area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes during a war with Hezbollah in 2024, and during a previous war with Israel in 2006.
Israeli bombardment and warnings have already forced tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee homes in the southern suburbs and the south this week.
The Lebanese health ministry said 102 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, said on Wednesday that seven children had been killed.
There have been no reports of fatalities in Israel as a result of Hezbollah attacks.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Philippa Fletche, Sharon Singleton and Andrei Khalip)
