Israel Kills At Least 16 In Southern Lebanon Attacks, Lebanese Health Authorities Say

Israel intensified attacks on southern Lebanon, killing at least 16 people, while Lebanese health authorities said at least 19 people were killed and 58 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

“At least 19 people have been killed and 58 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, according to Lebanese health authorities, as Israel intensifies its assault in the south and issues mass displacement orders across the region”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that an Israeli air strike south of Beirut killed a woman and two children, and said it was the first strike on the Lebanese capital in three weeks.

Al Jazeera

The Al Jazeera report also said state-run National News Agency reported that among casualties in southern Lebanon were six people belonging to the same family who were killed in an Israeli drone strike as they were trying to flee at dawn along the Adloun Highway, a key route linking Sidon and Tyre.

Al Jazeera said Israel issued mass displacement orders across the region, telling residents to evacuate immediately and move north of the Zahrani River, roughly 40km (25 miles) from the Lebanon-Israel border.

In Tyre, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto said, “Since midnight, there have been over a dozen strikes on the city of Tyre and its surrounding areas.”

In Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, Le Parisien reported that two rescuers were killed by an Israeli strike, and said ambulance crews, doctors and rescue teams have become targets since the war began.

Le Parisien described the deaths of Ali Jaber, 22, and Joud Suleiman, 15, and said less than 24 hours earlier they were still alive.

Le Nouvel Obs

The Le Parisien account said the war has claimed the lives of at least 52 medical staff, with more than fifty people standing in a tight circle around bodies wrapped in white shrouds.

In the same southern Lebanon area, Le Nouvel Obs said the population was forced to flee Israeli strikes and that nearly a million people had been driven from their homes.

Le Nouvel Obs quoted a resident saying, “They'll do here what they did in Gaza.”

Al Jazeera said the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Israel’s large-scale forced displacements and continued strikes on urban centres are placing civilians at severe risk and deepening a humanitarian crisis.

“In Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, two rescuers were killed by an Israeli strike”

Le Parisien

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto said, “The fear is that things are only going to get worse,” as he reported from Tyre.

Al Jazeera said a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month had failed to halt the violence, describing it as “just ink on paper.”

The Al Jazeera report also said United States-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon are due to resume on Thursday, beginning with technical discussions before moving to broader negotiations in early June.

In parallel, Al Jazeera said Israel has significantly intensified its military operations in the past two days, casting doubt over the prospects for diplomacy, and quoted Hitto saying, “It is unclear how these talks will proceed.”