Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Qlailé, in southern Lebanon, on May 16, 2026. Photo Kawnat HAJU / AFP
Israel intensified its attacks Saturday on the districts of Saida, Nabatieh and Sour in southern Lebanon, just a day after the 45-day extension of the cease-fire was announced following the second day of direct negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli delegations in Washington. Hezbollah, for its part, appeared to have scaled back its attacks.
On Saturday morning, Israel issued evacuation orders for nine villages located in the Saida and Nabatieh districts that are not within the ‘’buffer zone,’’ before continuing its strikes across southern Lebanon, particularly in the Sour region. These villages include Qaaqaaiyet al-Snoubar, Kawthariyet al-Sayyad, Marwanieh, Ghassanieh, Teffahta and Arzi (Saida district), as well as Bablieh, Ansar and Bayssarieh (Nabatieh district).
Mass exodus from Nabatieh and Saida
The Israeli army later announced it had carried out strikes ‘’against Hezbollah infrastructure in the south of the country.’’ Our correspondent reported a series of attacks in the Nabatieh and Saida regions, which were preceded by a mass exodus of residents. Israeli forces also struck the Sour district, bombarding numerous localities.
The Israeli military also claimed to have ‘’eliminated Hezbollah fighters as they operated from an area where rockets had been fired toward Israeli territory in southern Lebanon.’’ It simultaneously carried out numerous strikes in the Bint Jbeil district, including near Tebnine Governmental Hospital, where one person was killed and two others wounded in an airstrike on the area. Another strike between the villages of Srifa and Hariss (Bint Jbeil district) left one dead and two wounded.
Two people were also killed in strikes on Shehabieh (Sour district), as well as in villages in the Marjayoun district, notably Majdal Selm.
Before these strikes, a precarious calm had prevailed since midnight across southern Lebanon, with no violations or overflights by Israeli warplanes or drones reported.
Dozens wounded Friday in Sour
On Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed several neighborhoods in northern Sour and nearby localities. According to AFP, 37 people were wounded Friday night in strikes on a residential area of Sour that had been preceded by evacuation orders.
According to our correspondent, one of these attacks, which wounded at least 23 people, was particularly traumatic after residents mistook a warning strike for the bombing announced by the Israeli army. In practice, a fighter jet first fired a warning missile at the targeted building. After residents had moved about 1,000 meters away, the missile exploded, leading residents, bystanders and first responders waiting nearby to believe the strike had already occurred.
Several residents, along with rescue and ambulance teams, returned to the building to determine what had happened. At that moment, however, the Israeli air force carried out the actual strike, completely destroying the building. Shards of glass and stone were propelled toward residents who were still approaching the area.
Hezbollah attacks decrease
For its part, while Hezbollah claimed 33 attacks Friday against Israeli army positions in southern Lebanon, the group reported only 10 attacks by Saturday afternoon. It said it had targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Khiam (Marjayoun district), military vehicles in Taybeh (Marjayoun district), Israeli soldiers in Naqoura (Sour district), as well as the Blat site (Marjayoun district).
This reduction in Hezbollah’s military activity comes a day after the 45-day cease-fire extension was agreed following the third session of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington. The previous day, Mahmoud Qomati, a member of Hezbollah’s political council, denounced a ‘’plot’’ against the party, while Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan, who is close to the Amal-Hezbollah tandem, claimed that through these negotiations the Lebanese authorities were ‘’gambling with the country’s sovereignty’’ and that Lebanon is being run ‘’by a government manufactured in Washington.’’
According to the latest figures from the Health Ministry, Israeli strikes have killed 2,969 people and wounded 9,112 since March 2, including 18 killed and 124 wounded in the past 24 hours.
