Several strikes hit the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh yesterday after an Israeli evacuation warning, an AFP correspondent said, as an Israeli military official confirmed ground operations had expanded deeper into the country.
The latest strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered his military to intensify attacks on Hezbollah to "crush" the Iran-backed group, the same day at least 11 people were killed in a strike in eastern Lebanon.
An AFP correspondent in Nabatieh reported airstrikes following the warning yesterday and saw plumes of smoke rising from various locations within the city.
An Israeli military official told AFP that troops had begun operating beyond the Israel-announced "Yellow Line" in south Lebanon, which runs around 10km deep inside Lebanese territory.
The line, separate from the UN-demarcated "Blue Line" marking the frontier between Lebanon and Israel after Israel's withdrawal in 2000, forms part of a proposed buffer zone extending 5-10km into southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops continue to operate in dozens of largely abandoned villages.
As Israel's operations moved deeper into south Lebanon, Hezbollah said its fighters confronted Israeli troops trying to advance into a town that overlooks Nabatieh city.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters repelled an Israeli force early yesterday that had advanced toward Zawtar al-Sharqiyah following airstrikes and heavy artillery fire.
The group said it used drones and was fighting with Israeli soldiers in the town.
Largely deserted since the start of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, Nabatieh has faced relentless strikes despite an April 17 truce.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman said on X yesterday that residents of the entire city "must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River".
In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said "yesterday's Israeli enemy airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs, including two girls and a woman, and 15 wounded, including a child".
Rescuers were still clearing the rubble in the eastern town, the ministry added.
The Israeli military in a statement said it launched "several strikes... in the area of Mashghara" on "Hezbollah infrastructure sites where terrorists' activity was identified".
Later it issued an evacuation warning for the town as well as Sohmor near it.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported several Israeli strikes across the south and east.
A strike on Srifa in the south killed a rescuer and wounded two others from the Risala Scouts association, linked to the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, according to the health ministry, raising the rescuer death toll in the war to 120.
Several strikes also hit near a dam in the Litani river's Qaraoun lake, eastern Lebanon.
The Litani River Authority issued a statement warning that "any direct or indirect targeting of the Qaraoun Dam or its facilities could lead to catastrophic risks for residents, infrastructure, and vital installations in the areas downstream".
It called on the president, prime minister and government to "make the necessary contacts and take the necessary actions at the international and diplomatic levels to protect the Qaraoun Dam... from any attacks".
Evacuation warnings near the southern city of Tyre on Monday caused mass panic and an exodus of residents of the historic city, according to an AFP correspondent.
The Israeli military said yesterday that it had bombed more than 100 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon overnight.
Hezbollah also claimed drone attacks on an Israeli army barracks in northern Israel yesterday.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah, saying it is targeting the group, while the latter has claimed several attacks on Israeli positions in southern Lebanon and Northern Israel.
Lebanon's health ministry says the cumulative toll from the Israeli offensive had reached 3,213 dead and 9,737 wounded since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of its backer Iran.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said at least 608 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce.
