The Israeli strike on Harouf, in the Nabatieh district, on April 30, 2026. (Credit: Photo relayed by Mountasser Abdallah)
SOUTH LEBANON — The death toll from Israeli strikes carried out since early Thursday continues to rise as bombardments persist and the Israeli army has called for the evacuation of around 20 villages in the districts of Sour and Nabatieh. Several of the towns included in the warning were targeted before the evacuation calls were even issued.
According to a tally by our correspondent in south Lebanon, this morning's widespread bombings killed at least 13. Five of them were members of the same family — a couple and their three children — and were killed in Jibsheet as well as four in Toul (also in the Nabatieh district). In the same region, a strike on Harouf killed a woman. A drone strike targeted a scooter in Shehabieh (Sour district), killing two people. Shortly before, a similar strike on Srifa killed a motorcycle driver.
These air strikes and others that targeted these regions and the Bint Jbeil area, were carried out without warning, or just thirty minutes after an initial call to evacuate eight villages in the Sour district: Sammaaiyeh, which was targeted before Israeli issued a warning, Haniyeh, where people remain trapped under rubble after a strike Wednesday, Qleileh, Wadi Jilo, Kniseh, Kafra, Majdal Zoun, and Siddiqine, according to a message from Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on X.
Wadi Jilo and Qleileh were targeted just thirty minutes after these threats were published. In the afternoon, the Israeli army again called for the evacuation of 15 villages in the districts of Sour and Nabatieh including Jibsheet, Habboush, Harouf, Kfar Joz, Nabatieh Faowqa, Aaba, Adsheet al-Shaqif, Arab Salim, Tallet al-Khoury, Houmin Fawqa, Majadel, Arzoun, Dounin, Homeiri, and Maaroub.
Bombed cemetery and white phosphorus shells
In addition, strikes targeted a cemetery in Nabatieh, while Israeli artillery fired white phosphorus shells on the outskirts of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar Sharqieh, in the Nabatieh district, as well as on Byout al-Sayyad (Sour).
Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli army drone over Nabatieh, specifying that it fired a surface-to-air missile at the "Hermes 450" drone at 10:30 a.m. The Israeli army confirmed that one of its drones was brought down "by Hezbollah" in southern Lebanon, adding that the incident "is under investigation." Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for a kamikaze drone attack on a "155 mm self-propelled gun" of the Israeli army installed south of Yaroun, inside Lebanese territory in the Bint Jbeil district, as well as attacks on Merkava tanks in Bint Jbeil and Qantara.
On Wednesday into Thursday night, the Israeli air force particularly targeted the Sour district, bombing Qleileh and Majdal Zoun, as well as Batoulieh. In this last strike, a young woman was killed and six members of her family were injured. Also in this region, after midnight, rescue teams pulled from the rubble at Jwayya the bodies of five people killed in a strike carried out Wednesday afternoon, including a little girl and three women, bringing the provisional toll to eight dead and 25 injured. Search operations are to resume during the day, as three more bodies remain buried.
Trump tells Netanyahu to act 'more surgically'
These bombardments were carried out as U.S. President Donald Trump told Axios media that he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act "more surgically" in Lebanon. "Not knock down buildings. He can't do it. It is too terrible and makes Israel look bad," Trump said, also noting that he likes Lebanon and its leadership and believes the country can "make a comeback." "Iran ruined Lebanon. Their proxy [Hezbollah] ruined Lebanon. When Iran gets taken out, Hezbollah automatically gets taken out," Trump claimed.
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 reported that "the Israeli army is currently operating in Lebanon with instructions to show restraint: it is refraining from any deep attacks inside the country, and any action north of the Litani River now requires individual approval from political authorities."
On the other side of the Blue Line, Israeli rescue and firefighting services said that following the infiltration of a "drone launched by Hezbollah" over Shomera, in northern Israel, a car caught fire, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. The Israeli army said it had identified the impact of a drone, noting that alarm sirens had sounded in the north of the country due to fears of falling debris after the interception.
Reporting contributed by our regional correspondent, Muntasser Abdallah.
