Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on May 13 that three Israeli drone strikes targeting cars on the highway linking the capital Beirut to southern Lebanon killed at least 8 people, including 2 children.
The attack occurred in the Jiyeh area, about 20 kilometers south of Beirut. Lebanon’s National News Agency released images showing severely damaged vehicles, with exteriors blackened and torn apart.
The strikes came just one day before Lebanon and Israel were expected to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington, mediated by the U.S. Meanwhile, Hezbollah—which has launched attacks on northern Israel and against Israeli soldiers who have entered and occupied parts of southern Lebanon—announced its opposition to the talks in the U.S.
On the same day, the Israeli military issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents of six villages in southern Lebanon: Meiss el-Jabal, Yanouh, Burj Shemali, Hula, Debl, and Aabbasiyyeh, warning it would soon take “strong” action against these areas. The Israeli military stated that anyone remaining would “endanger their lives” and urged residents to move to “open areas” at least 1,000 meters away.
Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, said the conflict is escalating and causing heavy civilian casualties. She noted that one of the few remaining hospitals in the area lies within the evacuation zone. “Only three hospitals remain in the entire Tyre district, and people are still living here. At least 100,000 people are still here,” she said.
Earlier, on May 12, 13 people were killed in attacks on southern towns, including two civilian defense paramedics from the Lebanese Civil Defense Force, Hussein Jaber and Ahmad Noura. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that at least 380 people have been killed during the ceasefire period, raising the total death toll since Israel’s invasion and the start of shelling on March 2 to over 2,800.
According to the ministry, as of May 12, 108 emergency medical workers and healthcare personnel have been killed in Lebanon during the war, with more than 140 Israeli attacks on ambulances and medical facilities recorded. “All of this is having a huge impact on communities in southern Lebanon,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto from Tyre. “And the humanitarian crisis is growing, with more than a million people displaced.”
