Israeli drone drops evacuation leaflets over Lebanese villages

BEIRUT: An Israeli drone dropped leaflets on Sunday morning over the southeastern Lebanese village of Wazzani and nearby areas, calling on local residents to evacuate to the north of the town of Khiam, according to Lebanese military sources.

Bearing the signature of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the leaflets read, "To all residents and displaced persons in the refugee camps area, Hezbollah is firing from your area. You must leave your homes immediately and head north of Khiam until 4 p.m. (local time) and do not return until the war's end," military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua news agency.

"Anyone present in this area after this time will be considered a terrorist element, and his blood will be shed," it added.

Meanwhile, military sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones conducted five raids on Sunday on four border towns and villages in southern Lebanon, and Israeli artillery shelled eight towns and villages, injuring four people in the town of Adaisseh.

"This morning, 40 Katyusha rockets and several drones were fired from the Lebanese side into northern Israel," they added.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas's attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.