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Southern Lebanon empties out under bombardment as Red Cross warns of worsening crisis.
At least 16 people have been killed and 58 wounded in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese health authorities, as Israel intensifies its assault and issues mass displacement orders across the region.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday that six of the victims belonged to the same family. They were killed in an Israeli drone strike while trying to flee at dawn along the Adloun Highway, a key route linking Sidon and Tyre, it said.
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The attack came as Israel expanded its bombardment across southern Lebanon, hitting residential areas, roads and civilian infrastructure.
The Lebanese army said one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli strike in the Nabatieh area, the latest in a string of attacks targeting military personnel. Other soldiers have also been killed in recent days in strikes across southern Lebanon and the western Beqaa Valley.
Israel has also issued sweeping displacement orders covering large parts of the south, including Tyre and surrounding areas. Residents were told to evacuate immediately and move north of the Zahrani River, roughly 40km (25 miles) from the Lebanon-Israel border.
The orders, shared on social media with marked buildings, have forced thousands of people to flee under threat of attack.
‘Things are only going to get worse’
In Tyre, Israeli air strikes hit a building and a cafe overnight, setting off fires and leaving emergency crews searching through debris for casualties.
The Israeli military said it is targeting what it calls Hezbollah “infrastructure”, but Israeli strikes have repeatedly hit civilian neighbourhoods and populated areas.
Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre, said the attacks on the city were relentless.
“Since midnight, there have been over a dozen strikes on the city of Tyre and its surrounding areas.”
“Yesterday, people left the city over the course of the day. It seems like the city, for the most part, is pretty empty,” he added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that Israel’s large-scale forced displacements and continued strikes on urban centres are placing civilians at severe risk and deepening a humanitarian crisis.
“The fear is that things are only going to get worse,” Hitto said.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month had failed to halt the violence.
“It was just ink on paper. It remained very much an active warzone.”
“But what we have seen over the past three or four days is some of the heaviest Israeli bombardment yet across southern Lebanon since this latest confrontation began in early March,” she added.
The escalation came as United States-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon are due to resume on Thursday, beginning with technical discussions before moving to broader negotiations in early June.
However, Israel has significantly intensified its military operations in the past two days, casting doubt over the prospects for diplomacy.
“It is unclear how these talks will proceed,” Hitto said.
“People here are extremely frustrated and would like to see the Lebanese government take a stronger position at these talks, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” he added.
