Mind-controlling Warnings to flee or die leave city empty amid airstrikes

They call him the prince of doom. A phone vibrates at 3am and his face appears on X. He is delivering a message: leave or die.

- William Christou

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.

On 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 told to leave, joining people from more than 70 villages that have been put under evacuation orders - which Israel says are aimed at minimizing 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 orders in the middle of the night over social media and given residents less than 30 minutes to leave before the airstrikes started.

Three hours after Adraee posted on X last week, the strikes began. At least a dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed around Abou Deeb roundabout, an area where families can usually be found sitting in cafes most nights.