Vehicles condense along a road as residents of Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek evacuate from the Beqaa Valley city on October 30, 2024, after a statement from the Israeli army spokesperson warning residents of incoming strikes on Hezbollah targets. (Nidal SOLH / AFP)
Residents of Baalbek are rushing out of their homes after the IDF ordered Lebanon’s main eastern city and its outskirts evacuated for the first time in more than a month of war.
The Israeli army urged residents of Baalbek and surrounding villages to leave immediately, warning it is preparing attacks on Hezbollah targets.
The main roads out of the city are jammed with vehicles as civilians flee in panic.
Civil defense vehicles drive around the city urging everyone to leave immediately over loudspeaker.
“The city is almost empty,” the correspondent says about an hour after the evacuation warning.
“The [Israeli army] will act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages,” IDF military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
The post included a map of the entire city in the eastern Beqaa Valley and its outskirts, an area where the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group holds sway.
People wait along the side of a road for their ride before evacuating Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley on October 30, 2024, after a statement from the Israeli army spokesperson warning residents of incoming strikes on Hezbollah targets. (Photo by Nidal SOLH / AFP)
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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