'Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis': Israel orders Lebanese to leave Beirut suburbs
Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, "will look like Khan Younis," after the military instructed its tens of thousands of residents to leave immediately or risk being attacked.
"Two years ago we evacuated the residents of the north. Today we issued evacuation notices to the residents of southern Lebanon and the Dahiyeh district, while on the Israeli side the communities are returning to flourish and thrive. Very soon Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis," the far-right minister said in a video statement posted on X during a tour of Israel's northern border.
This comes after Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued expulsion orders for the densely populated area, warning that residents are "prohibited from heading south. Any movement south may put your lives at risk".
Shortly after, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that strikes pummelled the city neighbourhoods of Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that at least 102 people have been killed since Israel's renewed assault began on Monday, with another 638 people wounded. It warned that the toll is likely to rise as the wounded are transferred to hospital.
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Posting a map indicating where residents should evacuate to, Adraee instructed residents of Bourj Brajineh and al-Hadath neighbourhoods to flee east towards Mount Lebanon.
Meanwhile, residents of Harat Hreik and Shiyah were told to move north toward Tripoli and "east to Mount Lebanon on the Metn Expressway".
Videos circulating online show gridlocked roads as thousands are attempting to flee.
Dahiyeh - home to hundreds of thousands of residents, many of them Hezbollah voters - has borne the brunt of Israeli attacks on the city since the military launched renewed air and ground operations in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, a strike hit a building in the suburb Haret Hreik neighbourhood, causing "significant damage" to the neighbouring Bahman Hospital and wounding several health workers, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Israeli attacks have also pummelled large swathes of the country's south and east, displacing over 300,000 people amid the ongoing offensive, according to the Israeli military.
Haneen Sayed, the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs said in a post on X that, as of 5pm local time on Wednesday, 83,847 displaced people are registered at shelters across the country. She added that only 42 of 399 shelters still have capacity, while shelters in Beirut and Sidon have reached capacity.
"We request heading to Mount Lebanon, the North, and Akkar where spaces are still available," Sayed said.
Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) said in a post on X that the agency has opened emergency shelters to house the burgeoning numbers of displaced.
"Lebanon needs peace not more destruction, displacement & death," Lazzarini said.
Yet again, spiraling violence across the region is forcing thousands to flee their homes in Southern Lebanon.
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 5, 2026
Today’s evacuation orders of 4 neighborhoods in Southern Beirut are creating panic & greater forced & mass displacement.
As part of broader Lebanese authorities &… pic.twitter.com/xcNTFPBdmX
The latest forced evaucation orders come as thousands more were forced to flee after the Israeli military ordered the expulsion of the entire Lebanese population residing south of the Litani River, a region spanning hundreds of square kilometres.
Residents were instructed to move north ahead of an expansion of strikes and the entry of ground forces in the area - a move which Human Rights Watch said "raises serious risks of violations of the laws of war".
Lebanese state media reported that Israeli forces had entered the southern town of Khiam, roughly six kilometres from the border, marking their deepest advance since the outbreak of fighting.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday authorised military operations to capture additional positions in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have held several hilltops since the 2024 war with Hezbollah.
The US-Israeli war on Iran spread into Lebanon on Monday, when Hezbollah fired on Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a strike over the weekend.
Israel's Channel 12 News reported that the Israeli government approved the fresh wave of attacks on Sunday night, hours before Hezbollah fired its first rockets.
Sources close to Hezbollah previously told Middle East Eye the group believed an Israeli war cabinet meeting was on the verge of taking a major decision against it that same night and decided to act first.
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