A Grim Spectacle

How IDF Evacuation Orders in Lebanon are a Burgeoning Content Mill

In a war where Twitter often breaks news faster than any media outlet, the surreal has become routine. Israeli strikes are announced in advance, often with maps highlighting targets and GPS coordinates, as part of a grim warning system. And what happens next? A rush — not just to evacuate, but to document, and make viral TikTok videos.

Picture this: the IDF’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, tweets a map with a building — or several — marked in red. Sometimes the warning comes hours in advance, but more often, it’s just minutes before. In a country like Lebanon, where neither the government nor Hezbollah provides warnings about incoming Israeli strikes — no air raid sirens, no shelters, no guidance on where to flee — it’s unsettling that many Lebanese now rely on an IDF Twitter account, refreshing it 24/7, just to try and stay alive.

People are g…