Israel Orders Mass Evacuation of Southern Lebanon as Bombardment Kills at Least 16
BEIRUT — Israel ordered all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate on Thursday as its military intensified a bombing campaign that killed at least 16 people and wounded 58, according to Lebanese health authorities — the largest such displacement order since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in April.
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, declared all areas south of the Zahrani River — roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Israel-Lebanon border — as “combat zones” and told civilians to head north immediately. The sweeping order covers approximately 14 percent of Lebanese territory, affecting hundreds of thousands of residents, and was issued during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
“In light of the repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement by the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, the IDF will act against it with great force,” Adraee posted on social media.
Family of Six Killed While Fleeing
Among the dead were six members of the same family, killed in an Israeli drone strike while attempting to flee at dawn along the Adloun Highway, a key route linking Sidon and Tyre, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. The family was reportedly trying to escape to safety when the strike hit their vehicle.
The Lebanese army also said one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli strike in the Nabatieh area, adding to a growing toll of military personnel killed in recent days across southern Lebanon and the western Beqaa Valley.
Beirut Struck for First Time in Three Weeks
In a significant escalation, Israeli fighter jets struck an apartment building in southern Beirut on Thursday afternoon — the first such strike on the Lebanese capital in three weeks. Israeli media reported the attack was an assassination attempt, though the military has yet to publicly comment on the strike.
Hezbollah maintains a strong presence in southern Beirut. The United States has reportedly been pressuring Israel not to target the capital over concerns the attacks could derail peace talks between Tel Aviv and the Lebanese government.
Tyre Under Relentless Bombardment
In the coastal city of Tyre, one of Lebanon’s largest cities, Israeli air strikes hit a building and a cafe overnight, setting off fires and leaving emergency crews searching through debris for casualties. Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre, said the attacks on the city were relentless.
“Since midnight, there have been over a dozen strikes on the city of Tyre and its surrounding areas,” Hitto reported. “Yesterday, people left the city over the course of the day. It seems like the city, for the most part, is pretty empty.”
Footage from Tyre captured explosions and fires burning through the night and into Thursday morning. Videos showed streets lit orange by flames, smoke-filled roads, and at least one vehicle engulfed in fire. By daylight, a massive fireball was filmed erupting near a cluster of high-rise residential buildings, sending a mushroom-shaped column of smoke rising above the city skyline.
Shelters in the city of Sidon have reached full capacity, with the head of the municipality telling the BBC that no space remains for newly displaced people. Tyre’s authorities are advising residents to travel further north to the capital, Beirut.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the situation in Lebanon’s south was “nearing a perilous tipping point.” ICRC delegation head Agnes Dhur said, “Ongoing hostilities create conditions that are untenable for civilians and risk long-term consequences.”
More than 3,200 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since early March, when the latest conflict escalated after Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in solidarity with Tehran, days after President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized strikes on Iran. Hundreds of those killed are women and children, and many healthcare workers are also among the dead.
Ground Troops Push Deeper
Israeli troops have pushed further into southern Lebanon beyond the territory seized and occupied after its March invasion, going past the so-called “Yellow Line” that runs approximately 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory. Hezbollah claimed its fighters “clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range” in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, just beyond that line.
Hezbollah has also launched explosive drone attacks against Israeli soldiers and communities in northern Israel. The Israeli military said it identified the impacts of “several explosive drones” in its northern territory, though no injuries were reported.
Ceasefire Talks Resume Amid Escalation
The escalation comes as U.S.-mediated ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon are set to resume Thursday, beginning with technical discussions at the Pentagon before broader negotiations in early June. A Lebanese military delegation is expected to emphasize the need for a ceasefire and present the army’s plan for a state weapons monopoly.
However, the intensified military operations have cast doubt over diplomatic prospects. “It is unclear how these talks will proceed,” Al Jazeera’s Hitto said. “People here are extremely frustrated.”
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said the April ceasefire “was just ink on paper. It remained very much an active warzone. But what we have seen over the past three or four days is some of the heaviest Israeli bombardment yet across southern Lebanon since this latest confrontation began in early March.”
Some analysts have suggested Israel is also trying to pressure President Trump to carve Lebanon out of any deal with Iran to end the broader regional war. Iran has demanded the conflict to Israel’s north be included in any formal end to fighting, while Israel wants it treated as a separate conflict.
Sources: Al Jazeera, ABC News, BBC News, Reuters