Israeli air attack kills at least two in southern Lebanon

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An Israeli air attack has killed two people and injured another in the town of Deir Amas in the Tyre district, Lebanese state media reported, as the Israeli military expanded its operations across the war-battered country.

The army also carried out several air raids in the town of Braiqaa in the south, destroying two homes, the National News Agency (NNA) reported, as millions of people observed the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Wednesday.

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The air raids came a day after Israeli attacks across southern and eastern Lebanon killed at least 31 people and left 40 others injured, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said.

“Massive Israeli strikes pounded eastern Lebanon, hitting Machgharah in the western Bekaa, and another strike further north targeting the strategic Qaraoun Dam,” Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reported from Tyre in southern Lebanon, elaborating on Tuesday’s attacks in eastern Lebanon.

“More deadly strikes followed an evacuation order covering Nabatieh city.”

In the village of Burj Shemali in Tyre, an Israeli air attack on Tuesday killed several people, including two children and three women, and wounded 16 others, among them five children and six women.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Tuesday that a large Israeli ground force was pushing deep into southern Lebanon to seize areas and to “fortify” what he described as a “security zone” in the neighbouring country.

Over a period of some 10 hours on Tuesday, the Israeli military also issued forced displacement orders for dozens of Lebanese towns and villages in the south and east of the country, as well as the entire city of Nabatieh.

The orders to flee in advance of Israeli attacks also warned residents of the targeted areas to “move north of the Zahrani River”, which is located some 40km (25 miles) from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Hezbollah attacks

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 32 operations on Tuesday, targeting Israeli troops operating within southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese group stated that its fighters engaged in direct clashes and launched extensive rocket, artillery and drone strikes to confront an Israeli military advance, particularly focusing around the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya.

It said the attacks targeted multiple Merkava tanks, armoured vehicles, communication systems, and an Iron Dome platform, as well as the downing of two Israeli quadcopters.

According to the Health Ministry on Tuesday, at least 3,213 people have been killed and 9,737 have been wounded in Israeli attacks since fighting resumed in March.

Lebanon was drawn into the US-Israel war on Iran on March 2, after Tehran-aligned Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel.

The group said the attacks were in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, on February 28, as well as Israel’s near-daily violations of a ceasefire it agreed to in Lebanon in November 2024. Though yet another ceasefire followed in April, Israeli attacks have continued.