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Israel launched new airstrikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Thursday despite an ongoing ceasefire, after issuing evacuation warnings and declaring areas south of the Zahrani River “combat zones.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes bombed the eastern part of Tyre and carried out strikes on several buildings in the city center.
The agency said Israel also struck an apartment building and a cafe in Tyre overnight, adding that search and rescue teams were working to extinguish fires and reach people trapped under the rubble.
Local media also reported that Israeli warplanes hit several buildings in central Tyre.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had launched attacks against what it called Hezbollah infrastructure in Tyre.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee had threatened strikes in central Tyre shortly before they happened and called on residents to leave their homes and move north of the Zahrani River.
The Israeli military said Thursday it had begun new strikes around Tyre after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.
A day earlier, Israel declared regions south of Lebanon’s Zahrani River, an area roughly 40 kilometers from the border and including Tyre, as “combat zones.”
The warning was the first of its kind since an April 17 ceasefire and came as many Lebanese were trying to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
In a fresh evacuation order early Thursday, the Israeli military said it was “compelled to take forceful action” against Hezbollah. It later said on Telegram that strikes had begun against what it described as the group’s infrastructure.
NNA reported two waves of Israeli strikes on Tyre and an area east of the city on Thursday morning, hitting a building and causing a fire.
The Israeli military had also issued evacuation warnings for the southern city of Nabatieh, parts of Tyre and the surrounding areas.
An AFP correspondent said residents from threatened areas of Tyre moved to parts of the city not covered by the warning. Authorities, however, said shelters were full and urged people to head to Beirut instead.
NNA also reported a series of strikes on Wednesday on Nabatieh, causing “huge destruction” in residential areas.
Israel this week vowed to increase operations in Lebanon and said it was expanding ground activity there.
Israeli Army Chief Lt. Col. Eyal Zamir said: “We are intensifying our operations in order to strike ever more severe blows to the Hezbollah organization.”
Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces beyond an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli military official said on Tuesday that troops had begun operating outside the “yellow line,” which runs around 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah said its fighters “clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range” in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, just beyond the line.
The group also claimed three drone attacks on Israeli positions near the border in northern Israel. Israel’s military said several explosive drones fell in its territory, but no injuries were reported.
At the site of a strike in Burj al-Shemali in southern Lebanon, an AFP correspondent saw rescuers carrying a body bag from rubble scattered with household items, including rugs and cushions.
The Israeli army launched intense airstrikes on Lebanon on March 2 and occupied several towns in the country’s south.
The Lebanese government said more than 1 million people were displaced during the period.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 24 that a 10-day temporary ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which took effect on April 17, had been extended for another three weeks.
After a third round of U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel on May 14-15, the ceasefire was extended for 45 days starting May 17. A fourth round of talks was planned for early June.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in its latest statement that 3,269 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on the country since March 2.
The ministry said Wednesday that the overall death toll had risen by 56 from a day earlier after heavy Israeli strikes.
Lebanon’s army also said on Wednesday that one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli army has continued attacks and home demolitions in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has carried out attacks on Israeli forces, citing ceasefire violations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 25 that he had instructed the army to increase attacks on Lebanon.
Talks between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are expected on Friday at the Pentagon, with a new round of direct negotiations aimed at ending the hostilities set for next week.
A delegation of six Lebanese officers, headed by army operations director Georges Rizkallah, will take part in Friday’s talks.
A military source told AFP the delegation would “emphasize the need for a ceasefire” and present the army’s plan for a state weapons monopoly and the extension of state authority across the country.
NNA reported Israeli strikes in other parts of southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley in recent days.
After Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Israel repeatedly struck Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and warned residents to evacuate.
Strikes have intensified in recent days, especially in the West Bekaa town of Mashghara.
The area links southern Lebanon with Hezbollah strongholds in the northern Bekaa and is a key supply route for the group.
Lebanese military expert Hassan Jouni told AFP that the West Bekaa “is a necessary corridor for Hezbollah members if they want to move between the Bekaa and the south.”
He said Israeli operations could soon expand to “target the north Bekaa intensively or even Beirut’s southern suburbs,” both areas that have been relatively spared since the ceasefire.
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