Israel strikes southern Lebanon after largest evacuation order since ceasefire

Israel’s military struck southern Lebanon on Wednesday after telling residents to move north of the Zahrani River, turning a wide stretch of land into what it called a combat zone and signaling a sharp new escalation with Hezbollah. The order was the largest evacuation warning since the ceasefire took effect on April 17, 2026, and it covered about 14% of Lebanese territory.

The warning went well beyond Tyre. Israeli forces said all areas south of the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers from the border, should be emptied before attacks began, and bombing followed around Tyre after the forced displacement of one of Lebanon’s largest cities and nearby villages. The timing sharpened the civilian toll: AFP reported that many Lebanese were trying to mark Eid al-Adha when the sweeping warning was issued.

The strikes also fit a broader pattern that is pushing the conflict beyond a limited border exchange. Reuters reported that Israel had expanded ground operations beyond the Israeli-declared Yellow Line, a boundary set several kilometers inside Lebanese territory after the April 16 ceasefire with Hezbollah. That buffer zone was reported to extend roughly 5 to 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon, with Israeli troops still operating in dozens of largely abandoned villages. Hezbollah said it targeted advancing Israeli forces near Zawtar al-Sharqiya with explosive drones, rockets and artillery.

The humanitarian consequences were already severe before the latest strikes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that as of May 21 at least 3,089 people had been killed and 9,379 injured since March 2, including 296 women and 216 children among the dead. It said about 33,897 families, or 129,729 people, were living in 635 collective shelters nationwide.

United Nations News said nearly one million people were still displaced across Lebanon on May 26, and that the Nabatieh evacuation order was the first issued north of the Litani River. It also said nine attacks on healthcare were recorded in four days, from May 21 to 24, killing eight health workers and injuring 45, while the Israeli military destroyed the Civil Defense Center in Nabatieh and damaged two hospitals in South and Nabatieh governorates.

Lebanon’s health ministry put the cumulative toll from the Israeli offensive since March 2 at 3,213 dead and 9,737 wounded by May 26. The World Health Organization said at least 608 people in Lebanon had been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce. With evacuation orders widening, ground operations extending deeper into Lebanese territory and health services under direct attack, the latest strikes looked less like a tactical flare-up than another step toward a broader war that could pull in civilians far from the front line.