First responders come to the rescue following a targeted Israeli drone attack on a vehicle at the entrance to the southern Lebanese city of Saida on May 13, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — Israeli strikes carried out on Wednesday in Lebanon, mainly by drones and air force, killed at least 29 people across several regions of the country, according to combined tolls from our correspondent and the health ministry.
Israeli army drones intensified targeted strikes on roads in southern Lebanon, hitting vehicles up to the Chouf coastline, where three separate attacks on three cars killed eight people, including two children.
The first three consecutive strikes took place on busy roads between Beirut and Saida. The first drone attack targeted a car near the Jadra junction in Jiyyeh, on the busy coastal highway connecting Saida to the capital. The vehicle, which was transporting food supplies, immediately caught on fire and one passenger was killed. The second drone attack targeted a 4x4 carrying four people, while the third hit a car on a secondary road at the entrance to Saadiyat.
Further south, a drone strike targeted a van in Saida, near the town’s stadium, killing a father and injuring his son.
Another drone strike targeted a car traveling along the main road in Naqoura (Sour), next to the Relax Hotel, injuring at least one person, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon. Naqoura lies below the Israeli-established Gaza-style "yellow line" which marks Lebanese territory occupied by Israel and where residents have been denied access to their towns and villages.
Israeli drone strikes also targeted the towns of Shaaitiyeh and Maaliyeh, in the district of Sour.
According to our correspondent’s toll, these series of strikes killed 12 people, including eight on the coastal area south of Beirut, among them two children, according to the health ministry.
Israel issues new forced displacement orders for nine villages in southern Lebanon, followed by heavy airstrikes
Israel also targeted several towns and villages in southern Lebanon with heavy airstrikes following renewed forced displacement orders issued earlier today.
This morning, Israel ordered the evacuation of six entire villages in the Sour district, namely Maashouk, Yanouh, Burj al-Shemali, Halloussiyeh Fawqa, Debaal, and Abbasieh. Then, in the early afternoon, it ordered the evacuation of Kfar Hata (Saida), Arab Salim, and Deir Zahrani in the district of Nabatieh.
Following these threats, the municipality of Abbasieh called in a statement for its residents to "immediately" take shelter in the temporary center located at the village high school and cooperate with authorities to "facilitate the evacuation process." Dozens of families were forced to flee their homes following the Israeli evacuation orders, with some taking refuge in shelters in Sour and Abbasieh, others moving to open areas away from their houses and villages, and others making their way to the Sour corniche or even up to Saida, according to reports by our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes subsequently targeted several of these villages as well as other localities without prior warning. At dawn, Israel had also carried out several attacks on areas in the Nabatieh district.
Hezbollah, for its part, claimed several attacks over the past few hours on Israeli army positions in occupied southern Lebanon, notably in the Bint Jbeil district, at Wadi Ouyoun, Sarbine, and Rshaf. It also said it had launched an explosive drone at a bulldozer at Khallet al-Raj, near Deir Siryan. The Israeli army had announced it had crossed the Litani northward in this area.
Israel also reported this morning several attacks against its soldiers in southern Lebanon, which reportedly caused no casualties, according to messages posted on X.
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