Israeli air raids across southern Lebanon killed one person on Friday and into the evening, as the military issued forced displacement orders for 20 towns and villages, despite a US-brokered ceasefire that was meant to have ended hostilities.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the person was killed in an Israeli air raid on the municipality of Maarakeh, in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon. Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett, reporting from Beirut, said the strikes continued into Friday evening on towns and villages well north of what Israel calls the “Yellow Line” — the area of southern Lebanon it has been seeking to control and occupy.
At dawn, Israeli attacks demolished homes and government buildings in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, according to NNA. The Israeli military also ordered residents of 20 Lebanese towns and villages to leave immediately and relocate north of the Zahrani River. The displacement orders cover Deir al-Zahrani, al-Namirieh, al-Sharquieh, al-Dewayr, Harouf, Habboush, Kfarjoz, Zibdine, Nabatieh al-Tahta, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Kfar Rouman, al-Mahmoudieh, Sajed, Reihan, Aaramta, Kfarchouba, Mlki, al-Lawiza, Jarjouh and Arab Salim.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said an air raid alert had been activated in the northern town of Metula due to the “infiltration of a hostile aircraft” from Lebanon, though it did not attribute this to Hezbollah by name.
The escalation comes despite a conditional ceasefire agreed between Israeli and Lebanese officials earlier this month, which required a “complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah. The next round of talks between the two countries is expected on 22 June, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement.
The timing has raised concerns over a separate, higher-profile diplomatic process. The strikes came hours after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the United States and Iran had agreed on the wording of a deal aimed at ending their broader war in the Middle East, with mediators working to finalise the agreement between both sides. Iranian media have reported that the initial agreement would declare an end to the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon.” Because Israel is not a party to the US-Iran negotiations and its leaders have indicated they have no plans to withdraw from Lebanon, there are growing fears that continued Israeli operations there could undermine or scupper the wider deal.
