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An Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre killed at least eight people and wounded 32 others on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, as Israel continued attacks across the south and ordered residents of the entire city to evacuate.
The strike hit the outskirts of Tyre before the Israeli military issued its evacuation warning, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Rescue teams were still searching through the rubble for survivors, the ministry said.
The Israeli military later warned residents of Tyre, including those in the city’s Christian Quarter, nearby neighborhoods and Palestinian refugee camps, to leave immediately and travel north of the Zahrani River.
An AFP correspondent saw residents fleeing Tyre as heavy traffic moved north. Another correspondent in the coastal city of Sidon saw displaced families arriving from Tyre, some carrying belongings strapped to the roofs of their vehicles.
The Israeli military issued what it called an urgent warning to residents of Tyre, including the Christian Quarter and surrounding camps and neighborhoods.
“For your safety, we ask you to immediately evacuate your homes and move north of the Zahrani River,” the warning said.
The Zahrani River is about 30 kilometers, or 20 miles, north of Tyre. Israel declared all areas south of the river combat zones last month.
The NNA reported further Israeli strikes on Tyre later Tuesday after the evacuation order, as well as attacks on more than a dozen other locations across southern Lebanon.
Israel has repeatedly struck Tyre since the latest war with Hezbollah began after the group fired rockets at Israel on March 2.
The Christian Quarter in Tyre’s Old City had previously been spared evacuation orders affecting other parts of the city. The area had also become a refuge for displaced people.
Last week, the Israeli military alleged that Hezbollah members were operating in the Christian Quarter and warned that residents could be ordered to leave if the group remained there.
Some people who had been sleeping in cars or tents near the quarter later moved to other parts of the city.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed at least 14 people on Monday, including five people in an attack near a Red Cross center in Tyre.
Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks since March have killed more than 3,600 people and displaced more than 1 million.
On the Israeli side, 29 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.
Hezbollah has continued attacking Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon.
The group is the only Lebanese faction that did not surrender its weapons after the country’s civil war ended in 1990.
Hezbollah brought Lebanon into the broader Middle East conflict on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Israel continued its attacks despite a warning from Iran that Tehran would resume striking Israel if Israeli forces kept targeting Lebanon.
Iran says any agreement ending the broader Middle East war must also include a ceasefire in Lebanon.
The April ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has not been observed by either side.
The continuing attacks in Tyre and elsewhere in southern Lebanon came as fighting persisted despite efforts to halt the wider regional conflict.
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