The aftermath of an earlier Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese port of Tyre in May. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces ordered residents, including for the first time those in Christian neighborhoods, to evacuate well to the north of the city for their safety as it prepared to target Hezbollah “elements, facilities and combat means.” File photo by Stringer/EPA
June 9 (UPI) — The Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of the Lebanese city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter and more than 10 refugee camps, to evacuate Tuesday, pending Israeli military action against targets of Iran-proxy Hezbollah.
IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X that “out of concern for your safety,” residents should leave their homes immediately and move some 20 miles north beyond the Zahrani River and warned that anyone remaining south of the river was putting their life at risk.
“Your presence near Hezbollah elements or their facilities or combat means endangers your lives. As we warned in the past days, following Hezbollah elements’ actions inside the Christian Quarter in the city, the Israel Defense Forces will be compelled to act against their terrorist activities in the quarter in the near term,” said Adraee.
“Any building used by Hezbollah for military purposes may be subject to targeting. To ensure your safety — evacuate your homes immediately and move north beyond the Zahrani River. Attention — any movement south of the Zahrani River may endanger your lives,” he added.
The development came a day after Israel and Iran backed away from direct confrontation that flared up at the weekend over an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut that prompted Tehran to fire as many as 30 missiles at Israel with Israel striking back against military targets in central and western Iran.
In standing down its military, Tehran warned that in the event Israel continued its attacks in Lebanon, including in the south, “much more severe and crushing measures will be on the way.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X Monday evening that Israel had only halted hostilities because “after we struck the terror regime in Tehran, it ceased attacking us” and threatened to “respond with overwhelming force” if Iran made the mistake of attacking Israel again.
Netanyahu said that by firing into Israel over the past day, Iran and Hezbollah had attempted “to impose a new equation upon” where they believed they could fire at Israel from Lebanese territory and from Iran and Israel would not react.
“That did not happen, and it will not happen. Not on my watch! It is an equation I find intolerable and unacceptable,” wrote Netanyahu.
The sides halted their respective military strikes at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump who urged them to “stop shooting” because a deal ending the 100-day-long U.S.-Iran conflict was imminent.
Speaking on the tarmac at JFK Airport in New York on Monday night, Trump said the United States and Iran were very close to “a very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape, or form nuclear weapons.”
“And the [Hormuz] Strait will open up right away — they’ll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days,” said Trump.
He said he didn’t believe there were any sticking points.
Trump said the alternative was to return to bombing Iran but that would be counterproductive because it would mean the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed for many months and the needless deaths of many more people.
“Who wants to do that? I don’t. And we’ll have a signed document that’s actually stronger than doing the bombing,” he said.
