Israel kills 16 in Lebanon, UN to probe international law violations

Israeli military bombs southern Lebanon, issues more displacement threats

At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Tyre and its surrounding areas in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Nine people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the village of Tayr Debba, while three were killed in a strike on the municipality of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr, the agency reported on Wednesday.

At least one person was killed in an air strike on the city of Tyre, the NNA report said.

On Wednesday evening, an Israeli warplane raided the village of Deir ez-Zahrani, targeting a mosque and a clinic. The attack killed at least three people, according to NNA.

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre, said that Israel is trying to give the impression that it has given residents of these villages sufficient time to safely leave, but that is not the case.

“The Geneva Convention requires that evacuation routes are safe, that people are given enough time, and that a return route is provided so the occupation does not continue,” said Hitto, adding: “Israeli military activities in southern Lebanon do not meet those requirements.”

“If people try to leave Tyre today and go north, they are at high risk of being targeted by drone strikes,” said Hitto. “It is an extremely dangerous situation, and there are no reasonable guarantees for civilians trying to journey out of the city.”