Israeli Army Orders Evacuation Of Southern Lebanon Towns Before Strikes On Sarafand

The Israeli army announced it had ordered southern Lebanon towns it is about to attack to evacuate on Friday, June 5, and Colonel Avichay Adraee said his army planned to carry out strikes in the coastal town of Sarafand, south of Lebanon.

“After Israeli escalation, a cautious calm hung over southern Lebanon on Sunday, following a day of Israeli escalation that left dozens dead and wounded, coinciding with the start of a round of talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland”

Anadolu Ajansi

In the same period, the Israeli strikes killed eight and wounded eight in eastern and southern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, with five killed in the east and three more near the city of Tyre.

Anadolu Ajansi

Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said he accepted Hezbollah's withdrawal from the south of the Litani in parallel with Israel's withdrawal and called for a 'global and unconditional' ceasefire.

The tv5monde account also described the ceasefire framework as conditioned on a complete stop to Hezbollah fire, while Hezbollah's leader warned there would be 'no security' for northern Israel 'without security for the villages' of southern Lebanon.

In Beirut, AFP’s Mohammad Chamseddine, 56, said, "This is not the first time a ceasefire has been announced and Israel violates it," as an Israeli drone flew over the capital at low altitude.

After Israeli escalation, Anadolu reported a cautious calm over southern Lebanon on Sunday, saying there had been no Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon since dawn and that Hezbollah had not claimed any operations against the Israeli army.

Anadolu also said the Lebanese News Agency reported an Israeli drone continued to fly at low altitude over the Zahrani area and neighboring villages in Nabatieh District, as well as over Beirut’s southern suburbs.

CNN Arabic

In parallel, franceinfo described a ceasefire that had "never been observed," citing an airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed three Lebanese soldiers on Saturday, June 6, and quoting the Israeli army’s claim it struck a vehicle heading “in a suspicious manner” toward its soldiers.

Franceinfo added that Hezbollah called the attack a “heinous crime” and condemned “free concessions, the latest of which was their total capitulation to the enemy’s demands in Washington.”

CNN Arabic reported that the Israeli army struck Beirut on Sunday for the first time since the latest ceasefire went into effect, after rockets fired by Hezbollah toward northern Israel were intercepted.

CNN Arabic said the Israeli army struck Beirut in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israeli territory, targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburb of Beirut.

“Soldiers killed, villages bombed”

franceinfo

Lebanon's National News Agency said the attack targeted two residential buildings, and images from the site showed a large plume of smoke rising from the neighborhood, with at least one residential building sustaining substantial damage.

CNN Arabic also reported that Israel issued a fresh warning to evacuate the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre amid escalating clashes between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, despite the ceasefire brokered by the United States between the governments of Israel and Lebanon.

In tv5monde’s account, Colonel Avichay Adraee called on the population to evacuate Sarafand, located between the cities of Tyre and Sidon, as well as six other localities, and a similar call earlier demanded evacuation of three other villages.

tv5monde further stated that the agreement at this stage provided for the continuation of Israeli army fire and operations in the area, while Hezbollah urged evacuation between the Israeli border and the Litani River, about thirty kilometers further north, and to cease hostilities.