Israeli evacuation orders affect 14 percent of Lebanon, NGO says

Over an eighth of Lebanon's territory is under Israel's forced evacuation orders, an aid group said on Friday, while the United Nations peacekeeping mission said Israeli ground troops were making incursions and erecting roadblocks.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said Israel's evacuation orders for southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut now covered about 1,470 square kilometres, or about 14 percent of the country.

"Israel’s mass evacuation orders have expanded to broad geographic directives, often demanding immediate movement, creating panic and fear across communities that strikes are imminent - even when they are not," said Maureen Philippon, NRC country director in Lebanon.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon since 2 March killed almost 700 people, and displaced more than 800,000 in Lebanon.