Israel issues forced evacuation orders for southern Lebanon in escalation

Israel has issued new forced evacuation notices for areas in southern Lebanon, ordering residents of seven towns that lie beyond its so-called “buffer zone” to leave, ramping up the conflict with Hezbollah despite a US-brokered ceasefire.An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement on X on Sunday that the Lebanese armed group was violating the ceasefire ⁠and that Israel would act against it, telling residents to head north and west.The towns are north of the Litani River, in an area where Israeli troops have continued military operations despite the ceasefire. They lie outside of what Israel has declared a “buffer zone”, an area stretching roughly 10km (6 miles) north of the border inside southern Lebanon where Israeli forces remain.Hezbollah rejected allegations that it is undermining the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, saying its continued attacks are a “legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire”, which it claims have exceeded 500 incidents.The Iran-aligned group said in a statement on Telegram on Sunday that it shouldn’t be linked to a ceasefire that it didn’t approve, as it had “no say or position”, adding that the group will not “place out bets on a failed diplomacy that has proven its ineffectiveness.”“It must be understood that Hezbollah’s violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting.The US-mediated ceasefire, which started on April 16 and has been extended to mid-May, has brought a significant reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, though both sides have continued to fire at each other, trading blame over breaches.Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tyre, Heidi Pett, said “there have been multiple airstrikes across south Lebanon” on Sunday, with many people fleeing to the towns of Sidon and Tyre.“We once again have thousands of people leaving their homes, joining the hundreds of thousands who were already previously displaced,” she said.Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli troops inside Lebanon as well as the rescue force that came to evacuate them, targeting a newly established Israeli artillery position in the town of Biyyada with a swarm of drones.It also claimed two drone attacks on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the town of Taybeh, saying casualties were reported among Israeli forces, without giving further details.The Israeli army said a 19-year-old soldier, Sergeant Idan Fooks, was killed “during combat” in southern Lebanon, while five others were injured.“From our perspective, what obliges us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, the security of our communities,” Netanyahu was cited as saying at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, by Reuters news agency.Under the terms of the truce, Israel reserves the right to respond to “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks” and has been striking what it says are Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon almost every day.The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s “military infrastructure sites used to advance attacks,” in a post on X.Since the war was renewed between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, at least 2,509 people have been killed and 7,755 wounded by Israeli attacks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.