Israeli Air Raids Hit Lebanon Border Areas Despite Announced Ceasefire

Israeli forces carried out another round of air raids across Lebanon on Saturday, following earlier strikes that killed 10 people. The latest attacks hit a location close to the Syrian border as well as several communities in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that five Israeli strikes took place shortly before midnight in the mountainous Nabi Sreij area outside Brital. The agency said that location had not been hit since April 17.

On Saturday, the state news agency also reported powerful blasts in Yohmor al-Shaqif, in Nabatieh, and in Taybeh, in the Marjayoun district. Both towns are in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli strike on Thursday near Tebnine Hospital in the south damaged all three floors of the facility. The ministry said the emergency room, intensive care unit, surgical ward and ambulances parked outside were among the areas affected.

Since Friday night, Israel’s military has issued two forced evacuation warnings through its Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee. The alerts named the southern Lebanese village of Burj Rahal and areas in Tyre and Zqouq al-Mufdi.

Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon near the edge of a 500-metre danger zone declared by Israel, said: “There are ambulances here. There are also rescue teams and people who have fled their homes this evening following this forced [displacement] order.”

Hitto said many residents left in fear and confusion, treating the instructions as threats and not knowing when they would be able to go back. “People are here with their families and their children,” he said. “This is the kind of psychological terror that Israel is forcing people to live in, here in southern Lebanon.”

Lebanon has recorded more than 3,100 deaths since Israeli forces intensified attacks on March 2. The strikes have gone on despite a ceasefire announced by United States President Donald Trump on April 16. Figures shared on Friday by Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the dead include 123 medics, more than 210 children and nearly 300 women.