Residents of southern Lebanon are currently grappling with rampant rumors urging families to evacuate their towns due to Israeli threats of escalating military action. This has led to an additional wave of displacement, coinciding with heightened military confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, following the announcement of the deaths of five Hezbollah fighters on Friday evening as reported by "Asharq Al-Awsat."
The General Directorate of State Security announced that it is pursuing some individuals responsible for creating and disseminating these messages. In a statement on Sunday, it mentioned the distribution of voice and text messages in border areas, specifically in the town of Al-Jumayjuma, which caused panic among residents who began to evacuate their homes. The General Directorate reported that the Nabatieh regional directorate identified and apprehended the creators of these messages without validating their accuracy, conducting an investigation under judicial supervision, and taking legal action against them. The public was warned against spreading such rumors, as legal consequences would follow.
Previously, residents of the town of Al-Souaneh experienced similar anxiety due to a voice message warning that their town would be bombed. The General Directorate of State Security later announced the arrest of the individual responsible for spreading this alarm. According to their statement, after investigations into a voice clip circulating via WhatsApp, it became clear that the message was fabricated. It was a prank by a minor named (A. Z.), approximately 13 years old, who sent the message from his father's phone to his aunt, who then forwarded it believing it to be real and that evacuation was necessary. This prank unintentionally caused panic and fear among the citizens. The statement noted that the minor and his guardian were summoned, and an investigation is ongoing under judicial supervision.
These rumors coincide with ongoing threats from Israeli officials towards Hezbollah and Lebanon, warning of an escalation of war on the northern front. Meanwhile, the number of displaced individuals from southern Lebanon as a result of the conflict has reached 86,000, while around 60,000 remain in their homes, enduring economic, psychological, and personal losses, according to the United Nations.
Since Friday evening, there has been an escalation in military operations carried out by Hezbollah, following their announcement of the deaths of five of its members, which led to an increase in shelling across southern towns. Lebanese security sources reported the deaths of at least four Hezbollah militants and injuries to three others on Friday evening when Israeli warplanes struck a house in the town of Beit Lif in southern Lebanon. They also targeted a three-story building in the town of Deir Ammar, which is about 20 kilometers from Tyre.
In Israel, the "Times of Israel" reported on Saturday that air raid sirens sounded near the border with Lebanon for the third time within an hour, noting that sirens were heard in the Shlomi settlement after a projectile was reported to have landed in an open area.
On Sunday, Hezbollah announced in various statements that its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers around the Jal Al-Aalam site with Burkan missiles and gathered troops south of the Al-‘Abad post with rocket fire, in addition to targeting groups near the Dovif and Shumera barracks, as well as the Khirbet Ma'ar base.
For the second time in two days, Hezbollah announced the use of the "Falak 1" missile, targeting a command center at the Zabbadine barracks in the Shebaa Farms, along with reconnaissance equipment at the Bahri site.
In the south, the National News Agency reported that after midnight, the Israeli army opened heavy machine gun fire towards the woods adjacent to the Blue Line at the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura, Yarin, Al-Bustan, Um Al-Tout, and Alama Al-Shab. By Sunday morning, reconnaissance aircraft continued to fly over villages in the western and central sectors, reaching the outskirts of Tyre and deeply into southern areas unusually. They also fired flares over the western and central sectors.
On Sunday morning, Israeli aircraft carried out a strike on Jabal Balat at the outskirts of Marwheen in the Bent Jbeil district, dropping two (air-to-ground) missiles on the targeted area. Additionally, shelling occurred in the town of Hawla from the eastern side, with several projectiles landing in the Al-Qaqour area.
