Israeli leaflets tell residents of south Lebanon border village to evacuate

Israel dropped leaflets over a south Lebanon border village Sunday urging residents to leave, state-run media said, but Israel's military told AFP a brigade had taken the initiative without approval.

It was the first time Israelis had told residents of south Lebanon to evacuate in 11 months of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel over the Gaza war.

"The Israeli enemy dropped leaflets over Wazzani calling on those in the area and its surroundings to evacuate," the official National News Agency said, referring to a southern border village.

Wazzani mayor Ahmed al-Mohammed shared with AFP a picture of the leaflets that showed a map of the region with the areas marked for evacuation marked in red.

The leaflet read in Arabic: "To all residents and refugees living in the area of the camps, Hezbollah is firing from your region. You must immediately leave your homes and head north of the Khiam region before 04:00 pm (1300 GMT). Do not return to this area until the end of the war".

It added: "Anyone present in this area after this time will be considered a terrorist."

Wazzani is an agricultural region where Syrians are often hired to work the land.

Asked about the incident, an Israeli military spokeswoman said the leaflets had been dropped by drone in an area from which rockets had been fired into northern Israel.

"This was an initiative of the 769 Brigade, it was not approved by the Northern Command. An investigation has been opened," she added.

A cameraman collaborating with AFP saw Syrian families preparing to evacuate their makeshift tents, with young children carrying belongings in plastic bags.

Some families relocated to an area about a couple of kilometres (miles) further north, said the cameraman, who saw children and women unloading a truck filled with mattresses.

"Some of the Syrian workers are leaving the area... But as for us, we are farmers and we have livestock. We cannot leave our land," Mayor Mohammed said.

On Saturday, Hezbollah's second-in-command Naim Qassem warned that an all-out war by Israel aimed at returning 100,000 displaced people to their homes in areas near the Lebanon border would displace "hundreds of thousands" more Israelis.

The cross-border violence since October 8 has killed 623 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters, but also including at least 141 civilians, including children, paramedics and journalists, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.