Israel's military pounded Hezbollah targets in south and east Lebanon on Monday, September 23, and said more strikes were coming, warning Lebanese to stay out of harm's way despite international calls for restraint. It was the Israeli military's first official warning issued to Lebanese people since the war in Gaza erupted nearly a year ago.
The strikes since the weekend are the most intense since the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip last October 7. Israel said more than 300 Hezbollah sites had been targeted on Monday in dozens of strikes.
Lebanese official media said Monday people were receiving Israeli phone warnings telling them to evacuate, and Information Minister Ziad Makary's office told Agence France-Presse (AFP) it had received one of the messages. Makary's office, located in Beirut near several other ministries, said it received a landline call and when staff responded, a "recorded message" told them to evacuate the building in order to avoid strikes. Others in Lebanon reported receiving mobile phone text messages with similar warnings from a sender whose number was not displayed.
Imad Kreidieh, head of state telecommunications provider Ogero, said "the landline network system in Lebanon blocks all communications from Israel" as both countries are technically at war. But it "circumvents the communications systems by using the international phone code of a friendly country", he told Agence France-Presse.