Israeli Air Strikes Kill 29 in Tyre After IDF Evacuation Orders

Israeli air strikes hit the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after an Iranian warning to stop attacks, and the Lebanese health ministry said 29 people were killed in the country that day.

DW reported that Israel’s army told residents of Tyre several times to evacuate, while Lily, a community worker from Tyre, said, "Tyre is a ghost town."

Al Jazeera

CNN Arabic said the Israeli army issued a rare evacuation order for the Christian quarter in Tyre’s historic district and that IDF spokesperson Avichai Adraee warned residents on X that "in light of Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the Israeli home front, the IDF is forced to move decisively against them."

Lebanon’s National News Agency, as cited by Al Jazeera, reported that at least 16 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Tyre and its surrounding areas in southern Lebanon, including nine killed in Tayr Debba and three killed in Deir Qanoun en-Nahr.

Al Jazeera reported that UN human rights chief Volker Turk said a team of investigators would be deployed to Lebanon next week to assess potential violations of international law by all parties, and Turk said, "It’s the first time that we are sending this assessment mission."

In the same Al Jazeera report, correspondent Obaida Hitto said the Geneva Convention requires evacuation routes to be safe and that "Israeli military activities in southern Lebanon do not meet those requirements."

Al Jazeera

DW described how Lily said Israeli warnings often did not match what happened on the ground, saying, "but then they actually hit four buildings."

DW also quoted Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, arguing that the depth into Lebanon the military wants to go is about 10 kilometers from the border so communities are immune from direct fire from anti-tank missiles.

Devdiscourse said Lebanon became embroiled in the broader Middle East conflict on March 2 when Hezbollah militia, backed by Tehran, launched rocket attacks on Israel, and it reported that fighting persists despite a ceasefire declared by the U.S. on April 16.

“Elliot Burrin Live reporter Israel has continued its war against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a day after Israel and Iran said they would pause strikes against each other”

BBC

Devdiscourse also reported that Lebanon reports nearly 3,500 Israeli strikes since the truce announcement and that the U.N. predicted about 1.24 million Lebanese will face severe food insecurity until August.

Al Jazeera reported that Lebanon’s Ministry of Health says Israeli attacks across the country have killed at least 3,696 people and injured 11,413 others since March 2, while on the Israeli side 29 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon, according to the military.

Al Jazeera added that the association of Christian border villages in southern Lebanon urged Lebanon’s government to "immediately open safe humanitarian and medical corridors" to ensure access of citizens, aid, and medical and relief teams to affected and isolated villages.