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The news spread quickly and within minutes, the streets of Beirut were filled with panic.
We saw residents loading themselves into cars – or trying to leave on foot with whatever they could carry on their backs.
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The Israeli military has issued evacuation orders in four separate districts on the city’s southern outskirts and half a million or more people have taken to the streets.
They were united by one goal: to escape the capital as quickly as possible.
His fears were self-evident – that Israeli planes and drones would destroy their homes.
‘This is very dangerous’
We managed to talk to a man who was preparing to escape. His wife was carrying a small child on the back of her motorbike which looked damaged.
“The whole place was under threat; it looked like they were going to attack, we had to pick up our families and escape,” he said.
His wife added: “With all these threats and attacks, it is very dangerous, not safe at all.”
He then steered his bicycle into the middle of heavy traffic.
Remains of a power plant in Beirut
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The words of a right-wing Israeli cabinet minister have amplified concerns here.
Dahiya on the outskirts of Beirut, says Bezalal Smotrich, will resemble the destroyed city of Khan Younis in Gaza.
Dahiyah will look like Khan Younis. “Our citizens in the north will live quietly, peacefully and safely,” he said.
What is clear to the Lebanese public is that Israel is now making the rules.
Residents in southern Lebanon have also been ordered to leave their homes and head north over the Litani River – and we found their air campaign underway in the coastal town of Tyre.
Israeli tanks in southern Lebanon
‘We have nowhere to go’
We were taken to the bomb site by one of the Hezbollah media members, who told us that we were looking at the city’s power plant.
The giant tank holding the diesel had a hole in it and the tower supporting the solar panels collapsed. The location stinks, the smoke rots, and Ban no longer has electricity.
We wonder why some of the city’s residents decided to stay.
Hussein Chehadeh said the reason was simple — he had “no money,” he said, and was under pressure to pay for the kids, gas, house and rent.
“Our problem here is in the south”, he said, [is] “we have nowhere to go”.
Israel ‘will not stop’
Chehadeh and many other residents of the southern region are putting themselves at risk.
In exclusive footage passed to Sky News, we see the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) taking up positions in Lebanon’s southern hills, and the country’s military chief of staff declares that Israel is ready to go further.
“We are striking strongly, deeper into Lebanon, and we will strengthen control in the south. We will not stop until Hezbollah is disarmed,” said Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
It appears that this military conflict could turn into an all-out war – a battle and potential disaster that could wipe out everything in its path.
