BEIRUT — Traffic jams paralyzed the roads leading out of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday after Israel ordered its military to carry out strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in the Lebanese capital and as Israeli forces continued to advance in southern Lebanon.Online footage showed Lebanese civilians fleeing the Dahiyeh area in their cars.بعد إعلان إسرائيل تصعيدها في الضاحية الجنوبية زحمة سير في الطيونة بسبب حركة النزوح#LBCINews pic.twitter.com/4qzZ6ywUpr— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) June 1, 2026Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that they have instructed the military to strike “terrorist targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut” in response to the “repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror organization and the attacks against our cities and citizens.”While Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced last month, the capital Beirut and its suburbs have largely been spared, with two targeted precision strikes carried out in the past two and a half weeks.
Residents flee imminent Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut on June 1, 2026. (FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images)
