People swim on a public beach as smoke, background, rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qlaileh village, seen from the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon.
| Photo Credit: AP
Israeli strikes overnight in the historic south Lebanon city of Tyre killed seven people, a source from the civil defence told AFP on Friday (June 5, 2026), despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
One strike near Jabal Amel hospital killed four people, wounded seven and lightly damaged the facility, while another in a residential area killed three and wounded five, including two children.
Later on Friday (June 5, 2026) the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for nine southern Lebanese towns and villages, with Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reporting people were fleeing.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the February 28 killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
A conditional truce was announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys this week that would require Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the border and would see Lebanon’s army deploy to new “pilot zones” in the area.
But Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
On Friday an AFP correspondent saw a bank heavily damaged near the Jabal Amel medical facility, one of three hospitals in Tyre.
The hospital has been damaged by strikes on several occasions during the war, most recently in a major attack on Monday that killed four people and wounded 127, including 39 staff.
Following Israeli orders for residents to leave most of Tyre, many people have sought shelter in its small Old City, which has so far been spared evacuation warnings and strikes. It is where the Christian quarter is located.
With shelters full, displaced people have been sleeping in cars or tents, but many have left since the Israeli army claimed on Tuesday that Hezbollah members were operating in the area, according to the AFP correspondent.
On Wednesday night, a drone strike landed near a park in Tyre where dozens of displaced Syrians were sheltering in tents, the correspondent reported.
Locals have organised a petition calling for Tyre to be declared an “open city” free of any armed presence except Lebanon’s military. It has so far garnered around 250 signatures, including local lawyers and intellectuals.
Hezbollah has a strong presence in Tyre, and some signatories have faced online attacks over their stance.
More than 500 people have also signed a similar petition for Nabatieh, another large south Lebanon city that has come under Israeli attack.
Since the war began on March 2, Israeli strikes have killed at least 3,526 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday (June 4, 2026).
Published – June 05, 2026 02:05 pm IST
