Huge Israeli Strikes Overwhelm Lebanon’s Tyre After Citizens Warned To Evacuate

While it is looking like war between Israel and Iran is on hold, after the somewhat theatrical tit-for-tat which finally ended in Israel’s ‘limited’ military response this weekend, things in Lebanon are still ramping up.

On Monday the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre has come under heavy Israeli airstrikes and bombardment, so much so that a giant cloud of smoke has engulfed the it. The city has already been under attack for nearly a week. At least seven people have been reported killed in the latest Monday airstrikes.

Lebanese state media has confirmed significant aerial attacks after Israel’s military earlier issued an evacuation call for large swathes of the ancient city, which is also a UNESCO world heritage site.

“Enemy aircraft launched their first strike after the Israeli warning for the city of Tyre and targeted a residential apartment,” Lebanon’s National News Agency said. It confirmed in follow-up “a series of strikes” on the city, which is home to over 135,000 people.

Turkey’s TRT World journalist: “Certainly some of the heaviest striking that we’ve seen in this area.”

Here’s the moment an Israeli air strike hits Lebanon’s coastal area of Tyre, less than a km from where our correspondent Priyanka Navani was reporting live pic.twitter.com/LxnCWd8JzM

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 28, 2024

An Al Jazeera correspondent describes of the ongoing attacks:

The Israeli warplanes continue to shower the city with missiles, targeting the heart of the Old City, with the aim of turning this historic city into ruins.

The attack came in a series of air strikes, five to six air raids, on the city’s residential areas into its depth, as well as its marine front.

We saw, during the first two air strikes, how residential buildings were directly hit; reduced to rubbles. They were followed by successive air raids. More loud explosions, more destruction, and of course more victims.

The same report emphasizes that “The entire city of Tyre is now shrouded in smoke.”

Tyre is not particularly known as a major Hezbollah stronghold, even though it is heavily Shia Muslim (also with a significant Christian minority). The ramped-up strikes are being widely interpreted as a military tactic to put pressure on the Lebanese government to pressure Hezbollah.

My day – away from home – began with news of evacuation orders from my city Tyre/Sour, with an audio message from my mother. Her voice was shaking, wondering what would happen to our house.

Video of strikes on the city shared on WhatsApp groups pic.twitter.com/MEIXN0T8mT

— Roba El Husseini ربى (@RobaHusseini) October 28, 2024

According to more analysis from Al Jazeera:

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Beirut, says that Tyre is a target because analysts believe this city is a stronghold of the Amal movement, headed by parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

“They believe this is a message to the Amal movement and its leadership, who has said that he is negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah,” Jabbari said. She added that the Israeli attack is seen as another attempt by Israel to put more pressure on the negotiating parties.

The correspondent continued, “Extra pressure is now coming onto this movement, while there is clearly no discussion about a possible ceasefire. Regardless, Israel has said that it will negotiate under fire, while Hezbollah has said the opposite – they will not negotiate when they’re under attack.”

⚡️Violent enemy strikes on Tyre pic.twitter.com/C47MWkxLVe

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) October 28, 2024

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is among Western voices urging “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon. He has also called out the IDF’s “unacceptable attacks” on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon’s south, near the border. 

Borrell has said the EU is calling “for an immediate ceasefire across the blue lines.” However, Hezbollah is not looking in the mood to negotiate either, as it continues pummeling northern Israel, including the Haifa area, with barrages of rockets.

Israel’s army has stated Monday that in the latest salvos some 30 rockets have targeted the Western and Upper Galilee areas. And overall the IDF says at least 115 projectiles have been sent into northern Israel on Monday.

“Some of them were intercepted by the Air Force, crashes in the area were detected,” it said on X. Israel’s stated purpose in Lebanon is to push back Hezbollah and eliminate its forces to allow the return of tens of thousands of Israeli residents to their homes in the north. But the war is looking to be a long haul.