BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon on Sunday as the Israeli military issued a new wave of evacuation orders for communities in the area, raising fears of further escalation despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported several attacks across the south, including strikes in Abba, Jebchit, Arab Salim and Bazouriyeh near Tyre. In Abba, a Syrian man riding a motorcycle was killed, while another man was killed in a separate attack in Jebchit. A paramedic was also killed by an Israeli drone while inspecting the site of an earlier strike in Arab Salim. Another person was killed in an air raid in Bazouriyeh.
The strikes came as an Israeli army spokesperson issued 16 evacuation orders for parts of southern Lebanon. Local sources said some Israeli attacks occurred before and after the warnings, fuelling panic among residents already facing repeated displacement and bombardment.
Israel says its operations target Hezbollah fighters, weapons depots and military infrastructure in areas where the Iran-backed group remains active. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using civilian areas to store weapons and launch attacks. Lebanese officials and residents say the strikes are causing mounting civilian casualties and forcing families to flee towns and villages across the south.
The latest deaths follow a deadly series of Israeli attacks two days earlier, when airstrikes killed 10 people in southern Lebanon, including six paramedics and a child, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Those strikes hit Hanouiyeh and Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, both in the Tyre area.
The conflict has continued despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The truce has reduced some large-scale fighting but has not stopped Israeli airstrikes or Hezbollah attacks. The Guardian reported that more than 3,100 people have been killed since the fighting widened in March, with hundreds killed after the ceasefire was announced in April.
Health workers have increasingly been caught in the violence. Earlier this month, at least six people, including three paramedics, were killed in an Israeli strike on a civil defence centre in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.
The new evacuation orders are likely to deepen displacement in southern Lebanon, where many communities have already been emptied or heavily damaged. Lebanese authorities have called for a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal, while Israel says Hezbollah must be disarmed and pushed away from the border before it ends its operations.
For civilians in the south, the immediate reality remains uncertainty: warnings to leave, strikes that follow, and little confidence that the ceasefire can protect them.
