BEIRUT — The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate communities in southern Lebanon that are outside a U.N.-declared buffer zone, signaling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces said they had struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts. Strikes continued overnight when a series of massive blasts rocked Beirut's southern suburbs. It was not immediately clear what was targeted or if there were casualties.

The fighting has driven nearly 1.2 million people from their homes in Lebanon, the country's crisis unit said Thursday.