Elias Barbour was fleeing his home in Tyre, heading to his sister’s house in Beirut, when he asked a question that echoed the despair of a city under bombardment: 'What have we done wrong? What are we supposed to do?'
He was among hundreds of residents who scrambled north after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order that, for the first time, included the Christian quarter of the southern Lebanese city. The military alleged that Hezbollah fighters had been operating in the area last week. Roads clogged with cars carrying mattresses and bags tied to roofs as people sought safety beyond the Zahrani river, about 30km away.
“Israeli air strikes kill eight in Tyre as evacuation order includes Christian quarter for first time.”
Mohammed Mustafa, heading to Sidon with his daughter, rejected the Israeli justification. 'It's a lie when they say Hezbollah is here… This is a lie to scare people,' he said.
The evacuation order came minutes after reports of air strikes on several buildings in Tyre's eastern al-Massaken al-Shaabiya area. The Lebanese health ministry said at least eight people were killed and 32 injured, but stressed the figures were provisional because rescuers were still searching through rubble. Later, two Syrian nationals were killed in Israeli strikes in the villages of Ansariyeh and Aadloun, north of Tyre, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The strikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 13 people in total, Lebanese media reported. In Kfar Roummane, a pre-dawn drone attack killed two, the NNA said.
The assault came despite a warning from Iran on Monday that it could resume hostilities if attacks on its Lebanese ally Hezbollah did not stop. Israel and Iran had paused hostilities after an Israeli strike on Beirut triggered their first exchange of fire since a truce in April. But Israel vowed to continue its campaign against Hezbollah. Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military's chief of staff, said forces were still operating in several areas of southern Lebanon, dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.
The escalating conflict is complicating President Donald Trump's efforts to strike a deal to end the war between the US, Israel and Iran.