Israel Intensifies Southern Lebanon Attacks, Leaving 31 Dead and 40 Wounded

Israel’s campaigns in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, May 26 (the 5th of Khordad) left at least 31 dead and 40 wounded, as Israel said it would intensify operations despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The Israeli army said a rocket fired from inside Lebanese territory triggered alarm sirens in northern Israel, and it said the rocket landed in a non-residential area and caused no casualties.

Al-Mashhad al-Arabi

In southern Lebanon, the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for at least 50 towns and villages, including Nabatieh, as Hezbollah reported direct clashes with Israeli troops attempting to advance on a town overlooking Nabatieh.

Hezbollah said that early on Tuesday its forces confronted Israeli units that had advanced after airstrikes and heavy artillery toward Zoutar al-Sharqiya and forced them to retreat, and it said it carried out a series of drone and rocket attacks against Israeli forces in that town.

Lebanon’s official news agency reported that one of the strikes occurred near a government hospital and caused significant damage to several departments of the medical center.

Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli army forces that had infiltrated the town of Zuṭūr ash-Sharqīyah, north of the Litani River, for the second day, and it said the clashes included point-blank fighting at the Scout Camp in Zuṭūr ash-Sharqīyah.

Hezbollah added that it targeted Israeli forces at the riverbed in Zuṭūr ash-Sharqīyah with rocket salvos, artillery shells and heavy missiles, and it said it targeted four Merkava tanks and a gathering of vehicles at the town’s cultural complex.

Al-Nashra

In parallel, the Lebanese Health Ministry said that Israeli raids on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 31 and wounded 40, while Xinhua reported that the Lebanon-Israel border has seen a military escalation since March 2 despite a ceasefire in effect since April 17.

UNIFIL spokesman Farhan Haq said UNIFIL recorded 91 airspace violations on Monday, the highest since the cessation of hostilities, and he said UNIFIL recorded 399 shots attributed to the Israeli army and 11 projectiles fired by Hezbollah on that same day.

In northern Israel, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said Hezbollah launched six drones toward northern Israel since Wednesday morning, and it said some drones hit military areas inside Israel while the army continued to investigate.

As Israeli forces expanded operations, the Israeli army designated broad areas south of the Zahrani River as a combat zone and issued evacuation warnings for residents of Tyre and its surroundings, with the spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichai Adraei, urging residents to evacuate immediately and head north of the Zahrani River.

The Israeli army said it had carried out strikes on more than 150 Hezbollah targets in the past 24 hours, while Hezbollah announced clashes with Israeli forces near the town of Zuotr al-Sharqiya and confirmed targeting of Israeli military sites with drones.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the total toll of the Israeli aggression had reached 3,269 dead and 9,840 wounded, after 56 killed and 103 injured were recorded in the past 24 hours.

The Lebanese army announced the death of a serviceman as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Kafarman–al-Khordali road in southern Lebanon, bringing the death toll to two within 24 hours, and the army said it retrieved the body of one soldier after he was killed near the Qaroun Lake dam in Beqaa.

The VOA Farsi report said the Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet on Friday, 8 Khordad at the Pentagon for direct security talks for the first time, as Israel said it would broaden the scope of its fight against Hezbollah on the eve of the talks.