Israeli Forces Issue Evacuation Warnings for Nine Villages in Southern Lebanon

Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for nine villages in southern Lebanon, instructing residents of Tayr Debba, Aabbasiyyeh, Burj Rahal, Maaroub, Barish, Arzoun, Jannata, Zrariyeh and Ain Baal to move at least one kilometre away from targeted areas.

“Israeli air raids have killed at least 20 people in southern Lebanon, including a civil defence rescuer, according to Lebanese state-run media, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah”

Al Jazeera

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a warning message, “In light of the Hezbollah terror organisation’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force and does not intend to harm you,” as the notices came amid intensified exchanges of fire and continued Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon.

Al Jazeera

In parallel, the Israeli military said it struck more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites “from the air and on the ground” in the past 24 hours, including weapon storage facilities, launchers, and structures used by Hezbollah to advance activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.

Lebanese state-run reporting and health ministry figures described deaths from the fighting, with Al Jazeera saying an Israeli air strike killed four people, including two women, and injured eight others in the town of Toura in Tyre district on Friday.

The same Al Jazeera report said the Lebanese health ministry reported 50 people were killed in the past 24 hours in Israeli strikes, while the Israeli army said it shot down one rocket fired by Hezbollah and that the rest fell in open areas without causing casualties.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli air raids killed at least 20 people in southern Lebanon, including a civil defence rescuer, citing Lebanese state-run media despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The outlet also quoted Lebanese health ministry figures that an Israeli air strike killed four people, including two women, and injured eight others in Toura in Tyre district on Friday, while rescue operations were still ongoing to search for a missing girl beneath rubble in Blat in the Marjayoun district.

Al-Bawaba News

In a separate account, CBC said Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least five people Friday, while Hezbollah fired rockets on northern Israel without inflicting any casualties.

CBC tied its death toll to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, saying an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Toura, near the port city of Tyre, killed four people and wounded eight, and it added that another airstrike near Kfar Chouba killed a paramedic with the Lebanese Civil Defense.

The differing figures left the reports at odds, with Al Jazeera describing at least 20 killed in southern Lebanon and CBC describing at least five killed in southern Lebanon, both covering the same period of continued strikes.

While the fighting continued, Al Jazeera said a second stage of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon is expected to be held in Washington on May 14 and 15, after an initial round in mid-April that led to a US-brokered ceasefire.

The same report said the US Department of State would mediate the talks and that they would “build a framework for lasting peace and security arrangements, the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout its territory, the delineation of borders, and creating concrete pathways for humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Lebanon.”

In Washington, Los Angeles Times reported that a dozen Democratic senators demanded answers from U.S. Central Command about potential coordination with Israel on broad “evacuation zones” in Lebanon and Iran, citing international law concerns.

The letter, dated May 4 to CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper, asked whether U.S. forces coordinated military targets with Israeli forces during the recent war with Iran and whether CENTCOM signed off on U.S. military support for targeting people or infrastructure in the evacuation zones.

As the negotiations approached, the Los Angeles Times also said the Israeli military declined to comment when asked about the senators’ letter, while CENTCOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.