A person is seen inside a burning vehicle as men attempt to put out the fire after an airstrike hit a car in the coastal town of Barja, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustafa Jamalddine)
Hezbollah fires at troops, without injuries, IDF says

Israeli strikes on highway south of Beirut kill 8, including 2 children, Lebanon says

State media also reports strikes in south Lebanon as IDF says it’s targeting Hezbollah in the area following evacuation warnings for seven villages

by · The Times of Israel

Israeli strikes targeting cars on a highway south of Beirut on Wednesday killed eight people, including two children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, in the latest attacks despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The three separate airstrikes were carried out well beyond the main theater of conflict in the south, targeting vehicles on the coastal highway in an area around 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Beirut, security sources said.

Images showed a burnt-out car in the middle of the road and rescuers carrying a body at one of the sites, near Jiyeh. On Saturday, similar strikes targeted two other cars in the same area.

The Israel Defense Forces didn’t immediately comment on Wednesday’s highway strikes. But it said it launched a wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure sites in several areas southern Lebanon following evacuation warnings for seven villages in the area where the military intended to target the Iran-backed terror group.

The warning from army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee called on residents to flee at least a kilometer (0.6 miles) away from the villages of Maashouq, Jarjouaa, Yanouh, Burj al-Shamali, Hallousiyyeh al-Faouqa, Debaal and Aabbasiyyeh.

“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force and does not intend to harm you,” said Adraee.

First responders carry the body of a victim at the site of a drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the town of Jiyeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on May 13, 2026. (Fadel ITANI / AFP)

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported several strikes on villages and cars in the Tyre region.

Adraee’s warning came as the IDF said Hezbollah had fired rockets at troops in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, without any injuries. One barrage triggered sirens in the northern Israeli border community of Zarit, the military said.

In addition, the military said it intercepted several Hezbollah drones fired at troops in southern Lebanon in separate incidents on Wednesday.

Troops operating near the Lebanon border have come under near-daily, sometimes deadly attacks from Hezbollah’s explosive drones in recent weeks.

Over the past day, the IDF struck 40 Hezbollah sites and killed operatives who posed a threat to troops in southern Lebanon, the military said.

The targets included weapon depots, buildings used by the terror group to advance attacks, according to the military. Additionally, the IDF said it struck several primed Hezbollah rocket launchers that were aimed at Israel.

Lebanon’s health ministry said a total of 13 people were killed in Israel’s strikes in south Lebanon on Tuesday, including a woman, a child, a soldier and two rescue workers.

Since Hezbollah on March 2 dragged Lebanon into the wider regional conflict with Iran, more than 2,800 people have been killed in the country, including 200 children, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

A total of 380 people have been killed since US President Donald Trump on April 16 announced a truce in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The IDF says it has killed over 2,000 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since March 2.

From left, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, listen to President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office at the White House, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Lebanese government, which seeks to disarm Hezbollah, on Monday asked Washington to pressure Israel to halt its strikes on Lebanon ahead of the third round of US-brokered Israel-Lebanese talks on Thursday.

The direct negotiations in Washington represent the highest-level direct contact in decades between Israel and Lebanon, which have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948.

The first round of talks last month was followed days later by Trump’s Lebanon ceasefire announcement, which came amid the Iran truce that began on April 8. Hezbollah has slammed the Lebanese government for holding direct talks with Israel, and said the negotiations’ outcome did not concern the terror group.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.