An Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese city of Tyre killed at least eight people and wounded 32 on June 9, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The strike was followed by an Israeli military evacuation warning covering the city and surrounding areas.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the fatal strike hit before the evacuation warning was issued. The ministry described the casualty count as provisional while rescuers searched damaged buildings. Further strikes were reported across southern Lebanon during the day.
The Israeli warning included Tyre's historic Christian quarter, an area that had previously been spared from evacuation orders during the conflict. Hundreds of residents left the Mediterranean port city, producing long traffic queues on the coastal highway toward Sidon. Civil Defence teams helped older residents move to safer areas.
Three senior Christian leaders in Tyre appealed to Lebanese officials and the international community to prevent an attack on the old city. They said its densely populated neighbourhoods and centuries-old cultural and religious heritage faced the risk of destruction.
Israel said the planned strikes were directed at Hezbollah activity and infrastructure. The evacuation order covered the wider city, while the earlier fatal strike occurred in another neighbourhood. The sequence was significant because the eight deaths and 32 injuries were reported from an attack that preceded the warning rather than from an area struck after residents had been told to leave.
Tyre is one of Lebanon's largest cities and contains major archaeological and religious sites. Residents displaced by the warning packed vehicles with belongings as they sought accommodation farther north. Some told reporters they did not know where their families would stay.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was alarmed by the renewed regional escalation and called for attacks to stop and ceasefires to be respected. The warning and strikes came amid a wider intensification of fighting involving Israel, Hezbollah and Iran.
