A damaged building after an Israeli strike, in Habboush, Nabatieh, Lebanon, May 2, 2026. (Credit: Stringer/Reuters)
The Israeli army heavily bombarded the Nabatiyeh district in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, killing at least two people and forcing residents to flee the surrounding area, while drone strikes on several other regions proved deadly. At least five people have been killed since the morning, according to our correspondent.
As it has done daily in recent days, the Israeli army on Sunday morning ordered the evacuation of about a dozen villages in southern Lebanon, all located outside the buffer zone it is de facto establishing along the border.
The Israeli state had previously carried out continuous bombardment in the area overnight, including killing three people in a drone strike on a mosque.
The 11 villages affected by these forced evacuations are: Doueir, Arab Salim, Sharqieh, Jibsheet, Breikeh, Qaaqayet al-Jisr, Qseibeh, and Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh district, as well as Kfar Dounin and Braasheet in the Bint Jbeil district, and Srifa in the Sour district.
Doueir and Jibsheet had already been named in previous threats published by the army. The residents of these villages, which have been bombed repeatedly in recent days even before the evacuation orders, have been told to move at least one kilometer away.
A few hours later, powerful artillery fire struck Sharqieh, Qseibeh, and Srifa — struck at least four times, according to our correspondent. Intense Israeli strikes also targeted Jibsheet, Doueir, and Arab Salim.
In the latter village, the strikes completely destroyed the restaurant "al-Oustoura" and a neighboring pharmacy, killing two people. Due to the presence of gas cylinders and fuel tanks at the site, an explosion and fire followed the airstrikes.
Israel's forced exodus of residents from the Zahrani region
Under the intensity of the Israeli bombing and because of the very low-flying warplanes, some residents from the neighboring Zahrani region fled.
Several drone attacks were also reported in various regions, including Haris and Safad al-Battikh in the Bint Jbeil district, where two raids on scooters resulted in one and two deaths respectively. In Jwayya (Sour), several people were injured, including passengers on a targeted two-wheeler and those in a passing car.
The Israeli attacks also did not subside overnight, and a drone strike hit a mosque in Sammaaiyeh, a village located six kilometers southeast of Sour, killing three people, according to our correspondent.
In addition to this strike, since 9 p.m. Saturday, Israeli artillery shelled numerous villages in the districts of Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Sour, and Nabatieh, while military aircraft bombed these same areas as well as several sites on the heights in the Jezzine district.
There were also demolitions carried out by Israel on the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), in Bint Jbeil and in Shihine (Sour), as well as in Chamaa.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Saturday evening and Sunday morning for two new attacks, one with artillery shells and the other with a "exploding drone," targeting Israeli vehicles and soldiers in the occupied village of Bayyada, on the coast south of Sour.
