At least 31 people were killed and 40 others injured this week after Israeli forces intensified attacks across southern Lebanon, targeting towns and villages amid expanding ground operations near the border, Al Jazeera reported.
The fresh wave of strikes came alongside dozens of forced displacement orders issued by the Israeli military for areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, triggering panic and a mass civilian exodus from conflict-hit regions.
The Israeli military on May 26 ordered residents of nearly 50 towns, villages and the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh to evacuate ahead of planned attacks. The warnings, issued over roughly 10 hours, instructed civilians in targeted areas to move north of the Zahrani River, located about 40km from the Israel-Lebanon border, escalating tensions and fears of wider regional conflict, Al Jazeera reported.
According to Reuters, Israel pounded Lebanon with more than 120 air strikes on May 26 in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks, Lebanese security sources said.
Residents in southern Lebanon reported scenes of chaos as Israeli ground troops pushed deeper into Lebanese territory, with families fleeing bombardment and seeking shelter in safer areas. The escalation has heightened fears of a broader regional conflict as cross-border tensions continue to spiral.
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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has privately acknowledged that Israel has limited leverage over President Donald Trump as the US pushes ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at ending the nearly three-month-old conflict in the region, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that Netanyahu conveyed in private conversations that Israel "has no manoeuvre to influence the president right now", despite the agreement not immediately addressing Israel's concerns over Iran's nuclear program and stockpile. According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu had also expressed reservations about a Memorandum of Understanding currently under negotiation between Washington and Tehran. |
