Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon village kill at least 11 people

Israeli air attacks have killed at least 11 people and wounded 15 others in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said, as the Israeli army expands operations, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.

The air attacks hit the village of Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley late on Monday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Following the attacks, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced the latest forced evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, warning ahead of an attack on the towns and villages of Mashghara and Sahmar.

Israeli fighter jets also raided a region between Tayrdebba and Maarake in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck more than 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and “terrorists” in the Bekaa Valley and across southern Lebanon in the wave of attacks.

Reporting from Tyre, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto explained that the latest evacuation orders indicated that the army was expanding its military operations “way beyond the scope of what people thought”.

“It is an indication that these operations are also going to be combined with some ground movements,” he said.

“As they’ve issued this evacuation order to the city of Nabatieh, we’ve also seen Israeli troops advance on the ground across the Litani River, trying to reach a town called Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, which is just south of the city,” Hitto said.

Moreover, Israeli news outlets, Channels 12 and 14, reported on Tuesday that the army had expanded its ground operation in Lebanon to north of the so-called yellow line.

The line is part of a proposed buffer zone which extends 5km to 10 km (3 miles to 6 miles) into southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops continue to operate from.

The attacks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorised more intensive strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon, putting further pressure on a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month.

Reporting from Mashghara, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said there were at least 10 attacks in the span of half an hour on an area with residential buildings.

“There’s no final death toll because people remain missing. Excavators are still digging through the rubble,” she reported.

According to Khodr, the attack was seen “as part of a pressure campaign by Israel against Hezbollah”.

“The Israeli military has been trying to change the security situation and to pressure Hezbollah to stop using its explosive drones that have been targeting Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon and Israeli positions in northern Israel.”

Elsewhere, NNA reported that the southern Lebanese towns of Arnoun, Yohmor al-Shaqif, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Mayfadoun were under heavy artillery bombardment by Israeli forces, also reaching the vicinity of the Beaufort Castle in the Nabatieh district.

Mayfadoun had been subjected to a series of Israeli air attacks since dawn, while Shahour and Srifa in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon are being subjected to shelling, NNA said.

In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters have continued to target Israeli forces since dawn on Tuesday as part of its response to the army’s incursion towards the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya.

Al Jazeera also reported air attacks on the towns of Kawthariyat al-Ruz, Sarafina, Kafr and Majdal Selem, all in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for residents in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or military equipment is putting their life at risk!” Adraee posted on X.

Lebanon was drawn into the United States and Israel’s war on Iran on March 2, after Tehran-aligned Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel.

Hezbollah said the attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, on February 28, as well as Israel’s near-daily violations of a ceasefire it agreed to in Lebanon in November 2024.

More than 3,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, and more than 9,600 have been wounded. At least a million people have been displaced.