The violence flared again just a day after Israel and Iran paused their direct exchange of fire. That brief clash started when an Israeli strike hit a Hezbollah command centre in Beirut. Iran called it a red line crossed and launched around 30 barrages of ballistic missiles towards Israel. The missiles targeted airbases and a refinery in Haifa. Israel said they were intercepted.
Israel hit back with two waves of air strikes inside Iran. Those strikes targeted air defence systems and a petrochemical complex. Two Iranian army officers from the air defence force were killed. By Monday afternoon Iran said it had stopped military operations after delivering what it called a painful response. It also promised more severe and crushing measures if Israel continued attacks including in Lebanon.
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That warning was clearly not enough. On Tuesday Lebanese media reported that Israeli air and artillery strikes killed at least 13 people across the south. Two died in a pre dawn drone attack in Kfar Roummane near Nabatieh. Shortly after the Israeli military told residents of Tyre and surrounding areas to leave immediately and move beyond the Zahrani river roughly 30km north.
The evacuation order covered the Christian quarter for the first time. The military claimed Hezbollah fighters were operating there last week. Many residents packed what they could and fled causing gridlock on main roads. Minutes after the warning appeared on social media reports emerged of air strikes hitting several buildings in eastern Tyre. The health ministry said rescuers were still digging through rubble.
Hezbollah said its fighters launched rockets at a new Israeli military site in Maroun al Ras and targeted troops and vehicles with attack drones further north. The Israeli military separately reported that troops in the Galilee region shot dead a man who crossed the border from Lebanon and opened fire.
The wider conflict dragging Lebanon into war began on 2 March when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel. That move came in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded with a bombing campaign and ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Since then the Lebanese health ministry says at least 3,666 people have been killed. Israeli authorities report 30 soldiers and four civilians dead on both sides of the border.
A US brokered Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was signed on 16 April but it never truly took hold. Last Wednesday both sides agreed to renew the truce yet Hezbollah rejected it demanding a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel insisted operations in southern Lebanon would continue. On Sunday another strike hit Dahieh in Beirut’s southern suburbs killing two people. Hezbollah fired two rockets over the border in response.
The whole mess is complicating President Donald Trump’s push to end the war between the US, Israel and Iran. Washington pressed Israel to scale back its campaign against Hezbollah to create space for a deal with Tehran. Iran demanded any agreement cover Lebanon too. Israel has called the conflicts separate but did agree to limit strikes on Dahieh.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was holding fire for the moment but warned the struggle against Iran and Hezbollah was not finished. An Israeli official confirmed the strikes on Iran were halted at the request of the US president. For now the guns have not fallen silent and civilians in southern Lebanon are paying the heaviest price.
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