(Source: IANS/Xinhua)
Beirut, May 28 (IANS) Israel's military on Thursday issued an evacuation order for residents of the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.
The military said it would operate against the "Iran-backed group" Hezbollah in the area. "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is compelled to take forceful action against it," said the order.
Residents of the zone around certain buildings should leave and travel north of the Zahrani River, it added.
Meanwhile, at least two people were killed and another wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah sites in the village of Deir Aames in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
The strikes came as Israeli attacks intensified across southern Lebanon.
Lebanon's Civil Defense said that rescue teams evacuated 29 civilians trapped inside buildings damaged by airstrikes in the towns of Doueir and Nabatieh, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Israeli army also renewed an evacuation warning for residents of Nabatieh and later issued similar warnings for the towns of Kfarhouna, Aaramta, Mlita, Jarjouaa and Houmine al Fawqa.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its members targeted Israeli forces and military positions in Zawtar al Sharqiya in southern Lebanon. The group said it struck an Israeli Merkava tank near Bustan Zattam with an attack drone and shelled gatherings of Israeli soldiers and vehicles near Tallet al Khazzan and the town's riverbed using rockets, artillery shells and heavy rockets.
The group also said its members engaged Israeli forces at close range around 9:00 a.m. at the Scout Complex in Zawtar al Sharqiya using light and medium weapons, forcing the troops to retreat before Israeli forces launched heavy bombardment on the area.
Separately, Israeli warplanes launched a second strike on a building in the Mashrouaa al Rouz area at the entrance of Abbasiyeh, north of the coastal city of Tyre, destroying it completely. Additional airstrikes targeted Tyre and the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp south of the city.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said the toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 had risen to 3,269 killed and 9,840 wounded as of May 27.
