The IDF would evacuate at least 1 million civilians in Lebanon 24 hours before going to war against Hezbollah, a military source told The Jerusalem Post in a report Thursday.
The source did not explain how the evacuation would take place and what damage Israel might incur in the first 24 hours of a massive missile barrage by Hezbollah on Israel.
The Iranian-backed party and armed with more than 100,000 missiles and is considered to have a bigger weapons stockpile than most countries in the world.
Hezbollah effectively used human shields in the 34-day Second Lebanon War in 2006 and recently was reported to have built an extensive system of underground bunkers and tunnels in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon.
The source told the Post that in this week’s national defense exercise, the Air Forces staged practice raids on targets that are hidden in civilian areas.
“If we have no choice, we have to evacuate 1 million, 1.5 million residents in Lebanon, and act,” the source told the newspaper. “Hezbollah should not plan to fire on us and try to kill our civilians, and expect that we would respond by acting according to standards it seems to think only exist here.”
