Israel launched multiple airstrikes on the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre, located near a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site containing Roman ruins. The strikes, which took place after Israel issued widespread evacuation orders, have intensified the already tense situation in southern Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated.
Videos from the scene showed plumes of smoke rising just a few hundred meters from the Roman ruins, one of Lebanon’s most important archaeological treasures. While there were no immediate reports of casualties, the airstrikes raised concerns about the potential destruction of historic sites. Tyre, a coastal city with a rich history dating back to ancient times, is home to impressive Roman-era architecture, including a large necropolis and a hippodrome.
Before the bombings, the Israeli military warned civilians to leave Tyre, promising to act “forcefully” against Hezbollah. According to Bilal Kashmar, a spokesman for a disaster management unit, approximately 14,000 people remained in the city despite mass evacuations, including displaced individuals from other areas in southern Lebanon. He remarked that the city was experiencing a near-total evacuation as residents fled to surrounding suburbs to escape the airstrikes.
The strikes on Tyre are part of Israel’s larger military campaign against Hezbollah, an armed group with a strong presence in southern Lebanon. Overnight, Israel also launched airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and other Hezbollah-controlled areas. Israel’s military announced that these strikes targeted weapons storage facilities, command centres, and Hezbollah fighters. Israeli forces claimed to have killed around 70 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon in recent days as they worked to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
Hezbollah, which began firing rockets into northern Israel in October 2023 in solidarity with Hamas following the Gaza war, responded by launching more rockets into Israel, including a direct hit on an intelligence base north of Tel Aviv.
As the conflict continues, more than 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, with 1,900 deaths reported in the last five weeks alone. The fighting shows no signs of slowing, with civilian populations in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon bearing the brunt of the ongoing violence.
