Israel Fires Phosphorus Shells at Farmers Near Tyre’s Mansouri Junction

Israeli forces targeted farmers in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district with phosphorus shells on Tuesday, firing three shells near farmers harvesting watermelons in fields near the Mansouri junction, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).

“At least 22 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry, despite a 45-day ceasefire extension”

Al Jazeera

The farmers fled immediately after the shelling and NNA said no injuries were reported, while Israeli aircraft also struck the towns of Hanawieh and Maarka in Tyre district.

Al Jazeera

In the same district, the Islamic Health Committee said it recovered the body of a civilian from beneath the rubble of a house in the town of Qana hit by Israeli forces on Monday, as search operations for other missing people continued.

NNA also reported that Israeli forces established a checkpoint at the Marjayoun-Halta junction in Nabatieh district, detained three civilians, and confiscated several cellphones, while Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes on Dabin and a drone strike targeted a motorcycle on the Kfar Dajjal-Nabatieh road, injuring one person.

The attacks came amid continued Israeli violations of the fragile ceasefire announced on April 17 and extended Friday for an additional 45 days until early July, and Lebanese official figures said Israel’s offensive since March 2 has killed 2,988 people and wounded 9,210 others while displacing more than 1.6 million people.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the death toll since March 2 reached 3,042 people as of Tuesday, with at least 740 people killed since the ceasefire was announced, while the milestone was reached despite a US-brokered truce that went into effect last month.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 22 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, and said the ministry’s total death toll since March 2 had reached 3,042 in a statement published on Tuesday.

Haaretz

In Nabatieh, NNA said an Israeli warplane levelled a home in the al-Mahfara neighbourhood of Kfar Sir north of the Litani River, killing four people and injuring two others, while a drone attack in Harouf targeted a vehicle parked near the municipality building and killed one person and injured a municipal council member.

NNA also said an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle in Froun near Bint Jbeil, killing one person, and in Tyre district the army used three incendiary phosphorus bombs against farmers harvesting watermelons at the al-Mansouri junction, with no injuries reported.

The National News Agency said Israeli forces issued displacement orders for at least 12 towns and villages on Tuesday, and Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr described residents’ belief that the conflict is “part of a strategy to depopulate southern Lebanon, to make the area uninhabitable.”

As the 45-day extension of the Israeli-Lebanese cease-fire runs, Haaretz said the arrangement “responds to Beirut's condition for continuing the political-military talks but doesn't guarantee a solution to the underlying problems.”

“TEHRAN, May 19 (MNA) –At least ten people were martyred following the Israeli regime's attack on an area in southern Lebanon”

Mehr News Agency

Haaretz described the extension as “a prolonging of the war under Donald Trump's restrictions,” saying Israel is barred from bombing Beirut and the Bekaa Valley but remains free to strike Hezbollah in the south, raze villages, displace residents, and hunker down as a garrison force in an expanding “security zone.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun vowed on Monday to “do the impossible” to stop Israel's war on the country after a third round of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington last week resulted in the 45-day extension.

The National reported that Israel and Lebanon are to reconvene in Washington on June 2 and 3, with a broad ceasefire described as a central demand from Lebanon.

In parallel, Al Jazeera said the Israeli military issued a forced displacement threat to residents of 12 towns and villages across southern Lebanon, including Toura, Nabatieh At-Tahta, Habbouch, Bazouriyeh, Tayr Debba, Kfar Houneh, Ain Qana, Libbaya, Jebchit, Chehabiyeh, Burj Shemali, and Houmin al-Fawqa.