Israel Intensifies Strikes on Southern Lebanon, Expands Ground Push

One of the heaviest days of bombing

Israel struck Lebanon with more than 120 air strikes on May 26 in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks. The attacks hit both southern and eastern Lebanon, marking a sharp escalation in a conflict that has stretched on for months.

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported at least 31 people killed and 40 injured from the May 26 attacks, with the toll climbing as the bombardment intensified across the south and east of the country.

A deadly strike in Burj al-Shamali

At least 10 people, including women and children, were killed in a single strike on Burj al-Shamali. The casualties from that one attack added to the mounting human toll of an intensifying campaign across the south of the country.

Israel issued a displacement order for the southern city of Tyre, signaling further military action there, and sources said that Israeli ground operations had expanded past the security zone.

A fraying ceasefire

Lebanon's health ministry reported a cumulative toll of 3,213 dead and 9,737 wounded since the offensive began on March 2. The figures point to the scale of the campaign over nearly three months of fighting, and to the heavy civilian cost of the latest attacks.

The renewed bombardment frayed a tenuous April 16 ceasefire that had been meant to halt the violence. The latest escalation deepens a major Middle East conflict that sits alongside the Iran and Israel storylines dominating the current news cycle across the wider region.