Israeli Airstrikes Kill 11 Near Tyre After Evacuation Warning For Southern Lebanese City

KUALA LUMPUR,June,2026 – Israeli airstrikes on the historic southern Lebanese city of Tyre and nearby areas killed 11 people on Tuesday, June 9, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning covering the entire city, including neighbourhoods that had previously been spared from such orders.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, an Israeli strike near Tyre killed three people and wounded nine others, including two women. That brought the wider death toll in the region to 11, after an earlier strike had killed at least eight people and injured 32 more.

The strikes came as Israel continued its military campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli raids on more than a dozen other locations across the country’s south, showing that the latest attacks were not limited to Tyre alone.

The Israeli army also said its forces killed a gunman who had allegedly crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon and opened fire on Israeli troops. The claim came amid continuing clashes along the Israel-Lebanon front, where Hezbollah fighters have kept up attacks on Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon.

The situation in Tyre escalated sharply after the Israeli military issued an urgent evacuation warning for the city. The warning covered Tyre’s Christian quarter, Palestinian refugee camps and surrounding neighbourhoods, instructing residents to leave immediately and move north of the Zahrani River.

The Zahrani River is located around 30 kilometres north of Tyre. Last month, the Israeli army declared all areas south of the river as “combat zones”, making the evacuation order especially alarming for residents still sheltering in the city.

AFP journalists at the scene reported that residents, including those from Tyre’s Christian quarter, were seen fleeing the city after the warning. Roads heading north became congested as displaced families left with belongings tied to the roofs of their cars. Some residents were seen arriving in the coastal city of Sidon, further north.

The Christian quarter in Tyre’s Old City had previously been viewed as a relatively safer area compared with other parts of southern Lebanon. Many displaced people had sought refuge there during the conflict, but the latest evacuation warning extended the threat to that part of the city for the first time.

A municipal council member, Walid al-Tawil, said the neighbourhood had largely emptied after the warning, with many people already leaving while others rushed to pack their belongings. He said most residents fled towards Sidon or Beirut.

The Israeli military had earlier claimed that Hezbollah members were operating inside Tyre’s Christian quarter. It had warned that residents could be ordered to evacuate if the group continued to maintain a presence there.

The latest violence came despite earlier warnings from Iran that it would resume attacks on Israel if Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued. Tehran has insisted that Lebanon must be part of any broader deal aimed at ending the wider Middle East war.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has urged Lebanese authorities to repair relations with Tehran and benefit from Iranian support. The appeal came days after Iran struck Israel in response to bombardment on south Beirut.

However, Lebanon’s president and prime minister had recently called on Tehran to stop interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs. Those remarks followed Hezbollah’s rejection of a conditional ceasefire proposal with Israel.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified after Hezbollah launched rocket fire at Israel on March 2, following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Since then, Israel has repeatedly struck Tyre and other parts of southern Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities said Israeli attacks since March have killed 3,666 people and displaced more than one million others. On the Israeli side, the army said 29 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon.

The humanitarian situation in southern Lebanon continues to worsen as repeated evacuation warnings and airstrikes force more families to leave their homes. Tyre, one of Lebanon’s oldest and most historically significant coastal cities, has now become one of the major flashpoints in the renewed Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Although a ceasefire had been announced in mid-April, Malay Mail reported that neither side has respected it. The latest strikes near Tyre show that the ceasefire has failed to stop military operations, cross-border attacks and civilian displacement in southern Lebanon.

The attack also raises wider concerns about the regional conflict, especially as tensions involving Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iran continue to overlap. With Iran warning against continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Hezbollah maintaining operations against Israeli forces, the risk of further escalation remains high.

For now, Tyre remains under intense pressure as residents flee north, rescue teams search through damaged areas and Lebanese authorities continue to report casualties from Israeli attacks. The latest death toll has placed renewed attention on the human cost of the conflict and the growing instability across the Middle East.