The Israeli military issued urgent evacuation warnings to residents of 11 towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday, May 3, 2026, ordering them to flee their homes and move at least 1,000 metres away into open areas. The orders, issued by military spokesman Avichay Adraee, cited “Hezbollah ceasefire violations” as justification. Residents were told that anyone near Hezbollah fighters or facilities would be at risk. The towns named included Douweir, Arabsalim, Sharqiya, Jibsheet, Braachit, Srifa, Dounine, Breqaa, Qaqaiyat al-Jisr, Qsaybeh, and Kfarsir, some of which are located north of the Litani River, beyond the territory Israeli forces currently occupy. The warnings came as a series of heavy airstrikes hit southern Lebanon from the early hours of the morning, with strikes reported across the Iqlim al-Tuffah region and explosions heard as far as the coastal city of Sidon. Within hours of the evacuation order, eight people were killed in the town of Habboush, including a child and two women, while four more died in strikes on Zrariyeh. The attacks have become a daily occurrence, despite a US-brokered ceasefire that was supposed to halt hostilities.
The April 17 ceasefire agreement, negotiated in Washington and later extended until May 17, contains a provision that has effectively given Israel carte blanche to continue its assault. The text grants Israel the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”, a clause so broad that it has been invoked to justify everything from preemptive strikes on towns that had seen no fighting to the systematic demolition of entire neighbourhoods. Israeli soldiers are operating unopposed inside a self-declared “Yellow Line” running some 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon’s border, where they are carrying out wide-scale detonations and demolitions of buildings. In the town of Yaroun, Israeli forces demolished a monastery and a school after already having destroyed homes, shops and roads. The destruction has been methodical and widespread: aerial footage and satellite images show entire areas reduced to unrecognisable rubble, mirroring the tactics used in Gaza. The Lebanese government has repeatedly demanded a halt to these demolitions and a full Israeli withdrawal, but Washington has shown little interest in enforcing the terms of the very truce it brokered.
The group reacted with open disdain when President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire on April 24, calling the truce “meaningless.” Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad stated that “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and the demolition of villages and towns in the south. “Every Israeli attack gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added. The group is not a party to the ceasefire agreement and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s direct engagement with Israel. Hezbollah has maintained its own military operations in response to Israeli violations, launching rockets and drones at Israeli troop positions inside Lebanon and at communities in northern Israel. On Sunday, Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops inside Lebanon as well as the rescue force sent to evacuate them, killing one Israeli soldier and wounding six others.
The current ceasefire extension expires on May 17, and Israel has made its intentions plain. On April 29, Israeli officials set a two-week deadline for reaching a substantive agreement with Lebanon during US-mediated negotiations, warning of renewed military escalation if talks fail. The public broadcaster KAN cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying: “We cannot wait indefinitely… we will give negotiations only an additional two weeks.” Israeli assessments reportedly include the possibility of launching intensified military operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon if tangible progress is not achieved. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly urged President Trump to limit the negotiating window to two to three weeks, and has sought Washington’s approval for an expanded military campaign in Lebanon should the talks collapse. For the more than 1.6 million Lebanese displaced since March 2, some 20 per cent of the country’s population and for the families of the more than 2,600 people killed, these are not the words of a partner seeking peace. They are the words of an occupying power preparing for the next phase of its unending war.
The human toll of the past two months is staggering. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported on May 1 that the death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 had reached 2,618, with 8,094 injured. More than one million people have been displaced from southern Lebanon. The toll includes 277 women, 177 children and 100 medical workers. In Habboush alone, eight people were killed on May 1 in strikes that came less than an hour after an Israeli evacuation warning was issued. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said that Lebanese Red Cross volunteers now “fear for their lives” when they go on missions. Two paramedics are among those killed.