In Lebanon, ‘misleading’ and sporadic Israeli evacuation orders instil fear

Israel attacks Lebanon

In Lebanon, ‘misleading’ and sporadic

 Israeli evacuation orders instil fear

As it pummels Lebanon, Israel’s military fails to consistently warn residents of incoming attacks. When it does, there are sometimes mere minutes to flee.

Beirut, Lebanon – Two-year-old Ayham Ali Mohammad sat on his grandfather’s lap eating a banana across the street from Rafik Hariri Hospital in Jnah, on Beirut’s southern periphery.

Two days earlier, on October 22, an Israeli air attack had hit the Syrian toddler’s home, burying him under the rubble and taking down multiple buildings around him.

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He was trapped for an hour before locals managed to pull him out, digging through the wreckage with their bare hands.

He now wears the scars of the attack on his face. He has two black eyes. Scrapes line his forehead, cheeks, lips and chin.

Dressed in a brown tracksuit, he was typically fidgety for his age. But, in calm moments, he stared off into space. He did not speak as his grandfather told his story.

He and his father survived. But his mother and older brother, who were sleeping next to each other when the attack happened, did not. At least 18 people were killed in the attack, while about 60 were wounded.

There was an evacuation warning for Ouzai [a nearby suburb] but then they hit here,” said 40-year-old Hassan Bou Kaseb from the blast site. He lives next to the destroyed buildings. The Israeli army had given no warning, he and other locals said.

That same day, in Chiyah, about a 10-minute drive away, another building was reduced to rubble. But before that explosion, there was an evacuation warning.

Rana Nasserddine, who works in sales for a Dubai-based bathroom and tiles company, was at her office in the Emirati city when a relative shared the Israeli evacuation notice on the family group chat.

“I blacked out,” Nasserddine told Al Jazeera.

About 40 minutes later, a rocket struck the base of the building and brought it down.

“I ran out of the office crying and went outside to breathe,” she said. “Even now, describing what I felt brings tears to my eyes. I stood on the road for an hour, just trying to process it.”

Israeli fire that day destroyed the homes of Mohammad – the toddler – and Nasserddine, plus those of many others.

Evacuation warnings, when they are issued, might prevent the loss of life. But observers cast doubt that these alerts are issued in good faith.

“These evacuation orders are far from acting as a genuine call to protect civilians,” said a report by Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary research studio at the American University of Beirut.

“We read them as part of Israel’s strategy to manufacture consent for the incoming strikes, legitimising the bombings by claiming the presence of a so-called ‘terrorist’ threat.”

Israel’s Arabic-language spokesman for the military did not share a specific reason for the attack on Nasserddine’s building in a statement shared on the social media site X, other than to say they were in the vicinity of Hezbollah “interests” or “facilities”.