Israel’s military warned residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon to evacuate on Wednesday, two days after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people in the city and the region around it.
Baalbek, which had a population of roughly 80,000 people before the war, is an important urban center in the Bekaa Valley and is famed for its towering Roman ruins. It is also well known as a city where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah holds sway. But unlike other towns where the group enjoys support, Baalbek has largely been spared bombardment since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon this month, targeting what it said was Hezbollah military infrastructure in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday, Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, signaled that would no longer be the case. He posted a map showing the city and two neighboring towns, Ain Bourday and Douris, as part of a danger zone marked in red, with three evacuation routes authorized by the Israeli military.
“The I.D.F. will act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages and does not intend to harm you,” Mr. Adraee said. “For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move outside the city and villages.”
The evacuation warning comes two days after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 60 people in the Bekaa district, which includes the city and its rural hinterland, Lebanese officials said. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 58 others were injured in the attacks.
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