Locals evacuate overnight as Israel launches new strikes on south Lebanon

Residents in Dahieh, a suburb in the south of Beirut, have been evacuating overnight on Monday as Israel starts a new round of intensive strikes on south Lebanon.

A large number of local residents have been fleeing in two main directions, with those on one direction moving northward into downtown Beirut, and the other relocating southward.

China Media Group (CMG) reporter Christine was on the scene, where she observed heavy traffic congestion as residents fled their homes in panic.

"I'm standing here in Dahieh area -- one of the entrances to southern suburbs. People left their houses without anything. A lot of them just with their clothes on, no luggage, no stuff at all. I feel scared and at the same time angry, because it's not fair that every time we have to take our family, our kids and our stuff to leave our houses. The scene here is so chaotic. There is no police to manage streets and tell people where to go and how to go. I don't know what this night will carry on," said Christine.

Israel's Channel 12 television reported on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Earlier Sunday, an IDF spokesperson warned residents of roughly ten villages and towns in the area to evacuate.

The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks has climbed to 3,151, with 9,571 injured since March 2, Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel will increase the intensity of strikes in Lebanon to "crush" Hezbollah.

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect in April. Despite the truce, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israeli military positions.

Locals evacuate overnight as Israel launches new strikes on south Lebanon

China's consumer market maintained stable performance in the first four months of 2026, as a raft of incentive policies continued to take effect, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In April, demand for green and smart products remained robust. The latest official data from the ministry show that sales of smart glasses on major monitored platforms surged 5.9-fold year on year in the month, while sales of handheld cameras rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier. The country's new energy vehicle market penetration rate reached 61.4 percent in April, exceeding 60 percent for the first time.

Growth in rural consumption outpaced that of urban areas in the first four months. Retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 2.8 percent year on year during this period, 1 percentage point higher than the growth recorded in urban areas.

Inbound consumption continued to heat up, as China expanded visa-free policies and further optimized its departure tax refund policies. In the January-April period, departure tax-refund sales in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both in south China's economically developed Guangdong Province, surged 186 percent and 145 percent year on year, respectively.

Previously released official data showed that China's retail sales of consumer goods, a key gauge of the country's consumption strength, expanded 1.9 percent year on year in the January-April period of 2026.

China's consumer market posts steady growth in January-April