An Israeli strike on the southern suburb of Beirut, March 4, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Numerous reports circulated Wednesday morning of calls allegedly made from Israeli numbers threatening buildings in several regions of Lebanon, including in Baabda near the Justice Palace and in the vicinity of the French Embassy in Beirut.
A source within the Internal Security Forces told L’Orient Today that these reported calls are “hoaxes.”
“We saw this happen frequently during the 2024 war. We are checking what is happening now, but based on our experience during the last conflict, these are most often hoax calls as part of psychological warfare [by the Israeli army], or someone making a bad joke,” the source said.
The Baabda Justice Palace was evacuated after threats were made against an adjacent building, according to information confirmed to L’OLJ by a source close to the municipality, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and by the state-run National News Agency.
The threats were “neither serious nor confirmed,” the source said, but Judge Mirna Bayda ordered the immediate evacuation as a precaution. A local resident told L’OLJ that the threatened building houses Lebanese Shiite families and that authorities cleared the surrounding area.
At the French Embassy in Beirut, employees were instructed to take shelter in the basement after reports that residents of a neighboring building had received a call. An embassy source said staff later resumed normal activities and that the ambassador was not evacuated.
The Economy Ministry in Beirut was also evacuated after a threatening call targeting a nearby building. The ministry confirmed the move in a post on X, calling it a “preventive measure pending verification of the call’s authenticity.”
“Security forces have been contacted and are following up,” the ministry said.
An apartment building in Qabr Shmoun (Aley), where displaced people have fled to, was also threatened, according to a neighbor contacted by L’OLJ.
The municipal headquarters in Jdeideh was evacuated, local media reported, and so was a building in Barbour (Beirut) in which the vice president of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya reportedly lives. Buildings in Ras al-Nabeh and Tallet al-Khayat (Beirut) were likewise evacuated.
The Masnaa border crossing with Syria was cleared after a similar threat, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the area. Authorities are investigating the origin of the call.
The correspondent also reported that the Civil Defense headquarters affiliated with the Islamic Health Committee, Hezbollah’s rescue organization, in Douris (Baalbeck), was evacuated. Civil Defense closed the road near an army checkpoint at the southern entrance to the town.
In Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, a building near the Doctors’ Order was evacuated after a resident received a call instructing him to leave, L'Orient Today's north Lebanon correspondent reported. Security services have opened an investigation.
In south Lebanon, our correspondent reported that a call threatening the former National Social Security Fund building in Saida was ultimately determined to be a prank.
Additional reporting by Sarah Abdallah, Muntasser Abdallah and Michel Hallak.
