This photograph taken from the southern Lebanese city of Sour shows people on the beach against the backdrop of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the village of Qleileh on May 8, 2026. (Credit: Kawant Haju/AFP)
SOUTH LEBANON — Israel's war on southern Lebanon has continued unabated, with air strikes targeting various villages throughout Friday, accompanied by several forced evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military. Israeli troops also attempted a nighttime infiltration into the area of Bouyout al-Sayyad (Sour) from the Israeli-occupied village of Bayyada, according to reports from our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
On Friday morning at 8 a.m., an Israeli drone strike targeted a car traveling between the villages of Kfar Shuba and Kfar Hamam (Hasbaya), killing a Civil Defense worker affiliated with the Rashaya al-Foukhar municipality.
During the day, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X a series of forced evacuation orders to the residents of seven new villages in the South. The first targeted the towns of Nmeirieh, Tayr Filsey, Halloussiyeh, Halloussiyeh Fawqa, Toura, and Maarakeh, which are not located within the so-called "buffer zone” established by Israel in occupied areas of southern Lebanon. Later in the day, the Israeli army issued an evacuation order to the residents of the village of Abbasieh (Sour), also located outside the “buffer zone.” The Abbasieh municipality immediately called on its residents to take refuge in the shelter center located at the village high school.
Israeli strikes continued throughout the day. An airstrike hit the village of Toura (Sour), killing four people, including two women, and injuring eight, according to the Health Ministry. Shelling hit the locality of Deir Aames (Sour), injuring two. Other air raids struck the localities of Halloussiyeh and Tayr Filsey. The villages of Shaaitieh, Batoulieh, and Ain Baal (Sour) were also targeted.
Israeli warplanes also struck the locality of Nmeirieh (Nabatieh), while drone strikes hit Deir Antar (Bint Jbeil), killing four people, including paramedic Hussein Ahmad Shaitelli, a member of the al-Rissala Scout Association affiliated with the Amal Movement. A drone strike on a car in Houmin Tahta (Nabatieh) seriously injured the driver.
The Israeli army "authorized" the Lebanese Army and Civil Defense on Friday to enter the village of Blat (Marjayoun) twenty-four hours after a series of strikes on the locality. The president of the Blat municipal council, Ali Ghaleb Ramadan, stated that the army and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to reach the location of the two people who had gone missing on Thursday. He confirmed that their bodies were found, stressing that the two men were still alive the previous day, and that if rescue teams had been able to reach them sooner, they could have been evacuated and saved. Additionally, the Amal Movement announced the death of its member Hussein Nayef Ezzeddine, killed in Thursday’s strike on Blat.
An Israeli drone strike also targeted two motorcycles on the outskirts of Houmin Tahta (Nabatieh), killing two people and injuring a woman. Another Israeli drone strike targeted a house in the village of Zrarieh (Saida), killing three people, including a father and his son, according to our correspondent. A drone also targeted a car and motorcycle with two missiles in Abbasieh, causing several injuries. Two people were killed in another Israeli drone strike on a vehicle transporting cars near the Safa gas station on the Mayfadoun–Nabatieh road.
According to a Health Ministry tally published Friday, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 2,579 people and wounded 8,512 since March 2.
Israeli infiltration attempt at Bouyout al-Sayyad
Israeli soldiers attempted overnight to advance towards the locality of Bouyout al-Sayyad (Sour), from the occupied village of Bayyada, which marks the limit of the “buffer zone,” Israel's de facto occupation of more than 600 square kilometers deep into Lebanese territory, according to our correspondent in the region. However, Israeli troops were repelled by Hezbollah fighters, who targeted them with several rocket salvos. Exchanges of automatic gunfire then ensued, while several bursts of Israeli gunfire targeted the localities of Bouyout al-Sayyad and the neighboring village of Mansouri. Hezbollah claims to have targeted Israeli soldiers on the Bayyada–Bouyout al-Sayyad road (Sour) using drone grenades.
Three Israeli soldiers wounded
The escalation was also marked by counter-attacks claimed by Hezbollah, as the group fired rockets at an Israeli military position in northern Israel, south of Nahariya. The group said it fired a “salvo of rockets” at the Shraga barracks, the “administrative headquarters of the Golani Brigade and the Egoz unit,” both currently operating as occupying forces in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's strikes on northern Israel have been relatively rare since the start of the cease-fire, and the group has mostly claimed attacks on Israeli forces occupying Lebanese territory. In response to these attacks, the Israeli army reported “alert sirens in wide areas of the north,” while Israeli Channel 14 predicted that “Israel would respond to the attacks with a series of strikes.”
Another Hezbollah attack Friday wounded three Israeli soldiers, including one seriously, according to the Israeli army. The army said a Hezbollah drone exploded in Israel near soldiers. In another incident later in the day, another soldier was lightly injured when a Hezbollah drone exploded near a group of soldiers, the army added.
Hezbollah claimed strikes and drone attacks on several Israeli positions in southern Lebanon, notably at Adsheet al-Qousayr and Deir Siryan (Marjayoun), Bayyada (Sour), and Khiam (Marjayoun).
