Following repeated attacks by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia from southern Lebanon, Israel has ordered the evacuation of settlements up to two kilometres from the border area.
The office of Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that 28 towns on Israel’s northern border were affected.
The residents were to be taken to safety at state expense and housed in guest houses.
The Israeli army had already declared a four-kilometre-wide strip in the border area a restricted zone on Sunday.
Since the unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas on Israel and the counter-attacks by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip, there has been increasing violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon recently.
This has fueled concerns about a further regional escalation of the conflict.