JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday announced plans to evacuate 14 more communities near the Lebanese border amid escalating cross-border fighting between Israel and militants in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement that the communities, consisting mainly of cooperative farms and kibbutzim (villages), have been informed and regional municipalities have been informed and instructed to prepare for evacuation, Xinhua news agency reported. Is.
On Friday, the Defense Ministry asked residents of Kiryat Shmona, a northern Israeli town of about 22,000 people near the Lebanese border, to evacuate.
Israel’s fighting with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups along the northern border with Lebanon intensified after Israel launched retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks on towns and military posts in southern Israel on 7 October Is.
