BEIRUT (AP) — Israel’s military issued warnings to residents of dozens of border villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate “immediately” Wednesday as airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut intensified and Hezbollah claimed more attacks.

Israel said it deployed more forces in Lebanon to protect its people, but its military chief said the goal is more ambitious: to disarm Hezbollah. Israel made plans for the incursion well in advance.

Israel pounded Lebanon early Thursday and said it intercepted missiles from Iran as a widening war launched by the United States and Israel also brought fresh turmoil to Iraq.Israel, which had warned residents beforehand to flee,

Israeli jets carried out a wave of strikes in Beirut targeting what it said were command centres belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah, as the war in the Middle East entered its sixth day.

Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday and warned residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an "open war" with Israel in the wake of the U.

Tens of thousands have fled their homes in Lebanon’s south as Israel issues forced evacuation order for entire area.

I felt great fear and I ran,” says one of thousands of Syrians who are leaving what had been a relatively safe refuge during the war in Syria.

Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes across the region, with several people reportedly killed in attacks on Lebanon that the IDF says were targeting Hezbollah operatives and facilities. The army is now ordering civilians in southern Lebanon to leave "immediately" ahead of military action