More than 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes amid bombings, evacuation orders and demolitions
Middle East crisis – live updates
I
srael’s destruction in southern Lebanon happened in phases. Hours after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on 2 March, the Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders for more than 100 villages close to the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Bombing quickly followed. Tens of thousands of residents of south Lebanon began heading north, taking shelter in cities such as Tyre, Sidon and Beirut. Many people outside the formal evacuation zones fled their homes prematurely, recalling the autumn 2024 war in which Israel bombed wide swathes of south Lebanon without warning.
