Israeli airstrikes pummeled the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more, in the latest sign that a new U.S.-brokered cease-fire has failed to take hold.
Hours before the strikes, the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning for the entire city, which was home to roughly 100,000 people before the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, erupted in early March.
For the first time, the warning included the ancient port city’s Christian quarter, underscoring how Israel’s offensive was widening. Many residents have fled Tyre since the war began, leaving the Christian quarter as one of the city’s last relatively populated enclaves.
The Israeli military said last week that it had “identified activity by dozens of Hezbollah operatives inside the Christian neighborhood,” and called on residents “to demand the removal of the organization’s operatives from your areas.” It provided no evidence for its claim.
Israeli strikes on Tuesday also targeted towns and villages across southern Lebanon, including areas that were not covered by evacuation warnings, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency.
The enduring conflict in Lebanon has become one of the central obstacles in President Trump’s efforts to reach an agreement to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. For weeks, Tehran has insisted that any deal include an end to the fighting in Lebanon, but Israel has rejected efforts to connect the two conflicts.
Israel and Lebanon agreed last week to a new cease-fire following talks in Washington.
But Hezbollah, which was not a party to the discussions, rejected the proposal because it required the group to stop firing without any immediate concessions from Israel. With the Lebanese government unable to compel the powerful armed group to abide by any truce, the cease-fire announcement has had little effect.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike on the Dahiya neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway, prompted Iran and Israel to launch strikes against each other for the first time since a fragile truce took effect in April.
Iran has since threatened to attack Israel again if it keeps up its offensive, including in southern Lebanon.