Lebanon's state-run media reported that an Israeli airstrike on the town of Deir Amas in the Tyre district killed two people and wounded one other. The Israeli military also launched multiple airstrikes on the southern town of Braiqaa, destroying two houses, according to the National News Agency (NNA). The attacks occurred on the day Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday.
The airstrikes came a day after Israeli attacks across southern and eastern Lebanon killed at least 31 people and wounded 40 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto reported: “Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted eastern Lebanon, striking Machgharah in the western Bekaa Valley, and another attack farther north targeting the strategic Qaraoun dam.”
In the village of Burj Shemali in Tyre, an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed several people, including two children and three women, and wounded 16 others, among them five children and six women. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday evening that a large Israeli ground force was advancing deep into southern Lebanon to seize areas and consolidate what he called a “security zone” in the neighboring country.
Over a 10-hour period on Tuesday, the Israeli military also issued mandatory evacuation orders for dozens of towns and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the entire city of Nabatieh. The orders required residents to “move north of the Zahrani River,” about 40 km from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 32 operations on Tuesday targeting Israeli soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters engaged in direct clashes and launched large-scale rocket, artillery, and drone attacks in response to the Israeli advance. The group said it targeted multiple Merkava tanks, armored vehicles, communication systems, and an Iron Dome launcher, as well as shooting down two Israeli quadcopter drones.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, as of Tuesday at least 3,213 people have been killed and 9,737 wounded in Israeli attacks since fighting erupted in March. Lebanon was drawn into the US-Israel conflict with Iran on March 2, after Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed group, launched attacks on Israel. Hezbollah said the attacks were in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, as well as what it called almost daily Israeli violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
