Death...destruction

>> Lebanese told to flee onslaught >> Fears Israel's attack will widen

- CHRIS HUGHES , ASHLEY COWBURN and LIZZY BUCHAN

ISRAELI troops ordered an entire city and 20 villages to evacuate as war in southern Lebanon descended further into hell.

Civilians began fleeing their homes north of a UN-declared buffer zone as Israel signalled yesterday that its "limited ground incursion" may be much wider than thought.

The escalating chaos comes as the Middle East braces for Israel's revenge in response to Iran's missile onslaught earlier this week.

In Lebanon, Israeli troops are trying to move Hezbollah from the south to stop missile strikes that have driven more than 70,000 Israelis from their homes near the border.

More than a million Lebanese have already fled, fearing Israel's long-awaited ground attack could turn much of the south into a new Gaza.

Israel struck Hezbollah's intelligence HQ in Beirut as its Defence Forces warned Lebanese people to evacuate the villages and the city of Nabatiyeh, north of the buffer zone.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee declared on social media: "For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River. Save your lives." Israel last night claimed to have killed the Hezbollah commander behind the July rocket attack on a football pitch in Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers.