In the tourist neighborhood in the coastal city of Tyre, the remaining residents packed their belongings on Tuesday and left in haste after an evacuation warning from the Israeli army, which for the first time included the Christian neighborhood that had been a refuge for several displaced people from other areas.

Elias Barbour said as he was about to leave, “We packed our belongings and we are going to leave. At first we considered that we were not affected by the warning, but now we are.”

The neighborhood, which is inhabited mostly by Christians who are trying to stay away from the war between Hezbollah and Israel and which is bustling during the summer months with tourists and visitors, has become empty, while some of those who were delayed were placing their bags in their cars in preparation to leave as well.

Dogs in the back of a car stuck in traffic, as displaced people from Tyre in southern Lebanon, following an Israeli evacuation warning, head to the city of Sidon (AFP).

Tyre, the coastal city considered one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon and hosting thousands of displaced people from nearby villages, has been subjected to extensive Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war, which were not halted by the announcement of a ceasefire on April 17.

The Christian neighborhood in particular had, for weeks, served as a refuge for displaced people, some of whom spent their days and nights in cars, on sidewalks, or inside shops.

Barbour added sadly, “What did we do to deserve this?  What are we supposed to do? … For what?”

The man says he will go to his sister’s home in the capital for “a few days to see what will happen.”

Behind him, fishermen’s boats were moored along the narrow sidewalks of the old neighborhood. Traditional restaurants and cafés had shut their doors and been abandoned by their patrons.

Following the Israeli warning, Israeli strikes were reported on the city and its surroundings.

An Israeli strike two days earlier had caused damage to an ancient archaeological landmark dating back thousands of years.

Another Israeli strike that preceded the warning had killed eight people in the city, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Where are we supposed to go?”

The spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, posted on the platform X on Tuesday “an urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, including the Christian neighborhood, the Palestinian camps, and the surrounding neighborhoods.”

He added, “For your safety, we call on you to evacuate your homes immediately and move north beyond the Zahrani River,” meaning about forty kilometers from the border.

He justified this by the presence of “Hezbollah elements or facilities or combat means” near them, which “puts your lives at risk,” accusing members of the party of “operating inside the Christian neighborhood in the city.”

Municipal council member Walid Al Taweel said that after the warning, “the neighborhood (the Christian one) was emptied… by 99 percent, and only a small number of people remained.”

He added that most people headed to Beirut and Sidon, which lie north of the Zahrani River.

As for those who had no place to go, they sat in their cars on the seaside corniche along the city’s sandy beach, which is usually crowded with visitors during the summer months.

Some displaced people set up tents on the city sidewalks, like Ahmad Haidar, who said, “Today they threatened the Christian neighborhood… when the threat happened, we were afraid and we left… they threatened the whole Tyre area. There is absolutely no safety anymore.”

Mohammed Mustafa said while riding his motorcycle to leave Tyre with his daughter behind him, “A big lie when they say there is Hezbollah. There is no one in the Tyre area, this is a lie to scare people. They are liars.”

He continued, visibly emotional, “I do not want to leave. This is my area, this is my soul. We are fishermen, where are we supposed to go?”