Israel issues evacuation order to Baalbek residents, hit historical walls

AMMAN — Israel has issued an evacuation order for Baalbek and its surrounding areas in eastern Lebanon, as it prepares to conduct military operations targeting Iran-backed Hizbollah facilities in the region.

The area is home to 250,000 inhabitants and to one of the best-preserved Roman temples in the world. 

"For your safety and that of your family, you must immediately evacuate your homes and move out of the city and the villages," the Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X platform, with a map indicating the routes to take for evacuation.

This marks the first city-wide evacuation warning since Israeli strikes began on Lebanon on September 23. 

An AFP correspondent reported that panic swept through Baalbek as residents rushed to flee, their vehicles packed with mattresses and belongings. 

“The city is almost empty,” the correspondent noted, as civil defence vehicles urged immediate evacuation over loudspeakers in the city and its mosques and churches. 

The situation escalated sharply on Monday, with at least 60 fatalities reported from Israeli airstrikes across several towns in the Bekaa Valley, marking the deadliest day in over a year, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Baalbek’s Mayor Bachir Khodr condemned the violence as “the most violent day in Baalbek since the beginning of the aggression,” stating that people remain trapped under the rubble. 

Reports from Lebanese media claimed that two historical walls in the ancient city, dating back to the French Mandate and the Ottoman period, were destroyed by the bombings, marking the first time since the escalation of the conflict on October 7 that Israeli bombings have come so close to the citadel of Baalbek. 

The evacuation map includes the UNESCO-listed Roman temple complex, a major archaeological site. 

The monumental ensemble of Baalbek is considered, according to UNESCO, as one of the most impressive testimonies of Roman architecture, containing some of the largest Roman temples ever built and among the best preserved. 

Israeli strikes have increasingly approached the ancient citadel, previously hitting areas up to 700 metres away. 

The recent bombings and evacuation orders have raised concerns over the preservation of this important cultural heritage site.