Beirut streets around the southern suburbs of the capital, known as Dahiyeh, were packed with traffic on Monday (June 1) as people fled the Hezbollah stronghold following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order.

Netanyahu ordered attacks on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday, signalling further escalation of a war that has complicated mediation towards resolving the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Monday that Israeli attacks in Lebanon were among factors causing a delay to the diplomatic process to end the U.S.-Iran war, reiterating that a Lebanon ceasefire was an integral part of any deal.

Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israeli military to attack "terrorist targets" in the southern suburbs of Beirut following Hezbollah's "repeated violations" of a ceasefire and "attacks against our cities and citizens," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Having pounded Dahiyeh in the early weeks of the war, Israel has carried out only two strikes on the area since U.S. President Donald Trump announced a Lebanon ceasefire on April 16, even as hostilities have raged in southern Lebanon.

The order follows an intensification of hostilities in the south over the weekend, with Israeli troops capturing the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and Netanyahu ordering the military to expand ground operations.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

TRAFFIC IN BEIRUT AS PEOPLE MAKE THEIR WAY OUT OF BEIRUT'S SOUTHERN SUBURBS, AFTER NETANYAHU ORDERED THE ISRAELI MILITARY TO STRIKE THE HEZBOLLAH-CONTROLLED AREA IN RESPONSE TO THE GROUP'S ATTACKS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT.

SHOWS: BEIRUT, LEBANON (JUNE 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC IN BEIRUT AS PEOPLE MAKE THEIR WAY OUT OF BEIRUT'S SOUTHERN SUBURBS, AFTER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ORDERED THE ISRAELI MILITARY TO STRIKE THE HEZBOLLAH-CONTROLLED AREA IN RESPONSE TO THE GROUP'S ATTACKS / POLICE MEMBER AND LEBANESE ARMY SOLDIERS STANDING NEAR TRAFFIC

2. VEHICLE, WITH MATTRESSES AND BELONGINGS ON IT, MOVING

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED LEBANESE ORIGINALLY FROM SOUTHERN LEBANON, NAJI MUSULMANI, 61, SAYING:

"This is the third time we are displaced... moving from a place to another. Now I'm heading to Tripoli, to the kind people of Tripoli."

4. TRAFFIC

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED LEBANESE ORIGINALLY FROM SOUTHERN LEBANON, NAJI MUSULMANI, 61, SAYING:

"The descent to the grave is more honourable. One descending to the grave is more honourable than leaving his house."

6. TRAFFIC

7. LEBANESE FROM BEIRUT'S SOUTHERN SUBURBS, NAME NOT GIVEN, SAYING (Arabic): "The poor people... the poor people" AND GETTING INTO CAR

8. VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC