Lebanese health officials reported that at least 16 people were killed and 58 wounded in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, as Tel Aviv escalates its bombing and issues mass evacuation orders.
The National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon reported on May 29 that six of the victims were from the same family. They died in an Israeli drone strike while attempting to flee at dawn on the Adloun highway, a key route connecting Sidon and Tyre.
The attack comes as Israel expands its bombing across southern Lebanon, targeting residential areas, roads, and civilian infrastructure.
The Lebanese army said one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli attack in the Nabatieh region, the latest in a series of strikes on military personnel. Other soldiers have also been killed in recent days in various parts of southern Lebanon and the western Beqaa valley.
Israel also issued widespread evacuation orders covering large areas in the south, including the city of Tyre and its surroundings. Residents were instructed to move immediately north of the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. The orders, posted on social media with marked buildings, forced thousands to flee.
In Tyre, Israeli airstrikes hit a building and a cafe overnight, sparking fires and prompting rescue teams to search for victims in the rubble.
The Israeli military said it was targeting what it called Hezbollah's “infrastructure,” but its strikes repeatedly hit densely populated residential areas. Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto in Tyre reported that attacks on the city were relentless. “Since midnight, there have been more than a dozen attacks on the city of Tyre and its suburbs,” he said. “Yesterday, people left the city. It seems the city, for the most part, is empty.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that large-scale forced evacuations and ongoing Israeli strikes on urban centers are putting civilians at grave risk and deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr in Beirut said the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month has failed to halt the violence. “It's just ink on paper. The region remains a hot battlefield,” she said. “But what we have seen in the past three or four days is one of Israel's most intense bombardments of southern Lebanon since the latest confrontation began in early March.”
US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume on May 29, starting with technical discussions before moving to broader negotiations in early June. However, Israel has significantly intensified its military operations over the past two days, casting doubt on diplomatic prospects.
