Smoke rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese town of Habbouch on Friday [Getty]
The Israeli military continued striking several areas across southern Lebanon on Saturday as it issued new evacuation orders for more villages, despite an extended truce in place.
Two people were killed when a strike targeted their vehicle in the village of Kfar Dajjal, while three people were killed in a strike on a house in the village of Al-Louaizeh. An overnight strike on the village of Choukine killed two people.
Artillery shelling was also reported on border villages.
An Israeli strike also targeted the old Husayniyya – a Shia gathering hall used for religious purposes – in the town of Doueir, completely destroying it. Lebanon’s state-run news agency said it was the oldest Husayniyya in the Nabatiyeh district.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army issued an evacuation order for the villages of Qaaqaaiyat al-Jisr, Adchit Shqif, Jibchit, Ebba, Kfar Joz, Harouf, Al-Dweir, Deir al-Zahrani, Habboush, saying residents must distance themselves at least a thousand metres from these areas.
Strikes began pounding buildings there shortly after the warning.
An attack on the village of Habboush on Friday killed eight people, including a child and two women, while an attack on Zrariyeh in the Sidon district killed four people, including two women.
Since fighting resumed between Hezbollah and Israel on 2 March, the Israeli military has issued evacuation orders for most of south Lebanon, including both south and north of the Litani River.
Israeli troops now occupy the entire border region in the south, establishing a buffer zone that spans more than 500 square kilometres, several kilometres deep. Only a small number of civilians remain within this security zone, while the rest have been forced to flee.
Entire towns and villages along the border have been flattened as part of Israel’s continued scorched-earth policy.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said around 50 strikes had been carried out over the past 24 hours in southern Lebanon, claiming that these strikes destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure sites in south Lebanon.
In response, Hezbollah fired several projectiles toward Israeli forces stationed in the south.
Both sides have continued fighting in the south despite a US-brokered truce which is set to expire on 17 May.
US President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “limit” his strikes on Lebanon, where more than 2,600 people have been killed since 2 March.
Trump had announced earlier that talks between Lebanon and Israel were set to begin within two weeks. The direct talks – the first in decades – aim to fully end the decades-long conflict between the two countries.
They came after two preparatory meetings in Washington between Lebanon and Israel’s ambassadors to the US, the second of which was attended by Trump at the White House.
While Lebanon has stressed that Israel must fully abide by the truce before negotiations begin, Tel Aviv says it will not pull its troops out before Hezbollah is fully disarmed.
Hezbollah has lambasted the planned negotiations and has refused to disarm.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has defended the diplomatic track as the only way to end the war and guarantee that Lebanese southerners can return home.
