'Leave or die' Airstrikes hollow out a former city of refuge

They call him the prince of doom.

- William Christou

A phone vibrates at 3am and his face appears on X. He is delivering a message: leave or die.

The messenger is Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic language spokesperson. In what is frighteningly good Arabic for a non-native speaker, he yells into his phone's camera, telling Lebanese people to evacuate certain areas "for their safety" before strikes on what Israel says is Hezbollah infrastructure.

Last Wednesday, a little after 8am, Adraee issued a new evacuation order. The residents of a large section of Tyre, the second most populated city in south Lebanon, were ordered to leave, joining people from more than 70 villages that have been put under Israeli evacuation orders - which Israel says are aimed at minimising casualties since 23 September. In total, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israel's offensive.

Amnesty International has criticised Israel's evacuation orders, saying they are inadequate and that they raise questions as to whether they are meant to provoke mass displacement. In some cases, Israel has issued evacuation orders in the middle of the night over social media and given residents less than 30 minutes to evacuate before strikes began.

Three hours after Adraee posted on X, the airstrikes started. At least a dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed around Abou Deeb roundabout, a major residential area.