Israel ‘kills eight’ in new strikes on Lebanon despite Trump warning to stop shooting

Israel has killed eight people in fresh attacks on southern Lebanon, officials said, despite warnings from President Donald Trump for all sides in the conflict to “stop shooting”.

An Israeli airstrike hit a housing district in the ancient southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday, after it issued an evacuation order for tens of thousands of residents in the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The attacks came in defiance of Trump’s demand on Monday that both Israel and Iran rein in strikes as he looks to finalise a long-anticipated peace deal with Iran.

Israel and Iran halted direct attacks on each other after Trump’s request – but less than a day later the Israeli military resumed operations in Lebanon.

The Israeli military’s evacuation order on Tuesday morning included the city’s Christian quarter, which has previously been excluded from evacuation zones.

The attacks were the deadliest on Tyre since fighting erupted in Lebanon on 2 March. Lebanon’s state media said rescuers are still searching for survivors. A video purporting to show the aftermath of a deadly strike on the city’s eastern edge showed debris strewn along a road.

Israel said last week that Hezbollah fighters were hiding out in Tyre. Lebanese state media had reported people fleeing the city on Tuesday morning after the online evacuation order, with civil defence teams transporting elderly residents into temporary shelters.

Israeli forces are occupying much of southern Lebanon, with its evacuation orders having effectively emptied a fifth of the entire country, including areas far beyond the front lines.

Washington will likely be concerned that the latest attacks could trigger an Iranian response, potentially scuppering the US president’s claims to be within touching distance of a deal with Tehran.

Iran said on Monday that Israel does not act without a green light from the US, suggesting it may hold Washington responsible for the most recent strikes Lebanon.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to end his campaign in Lebanon, as Iran demands, has hindered Trump’s efforts to turn a temporary ceasefire with Tehran into a long-term settlement.

But after his calls for Israel and Iran to pause fire were upheld on Monday, Trump said he expected to sign a peace deal with Iran within “two or three days”, claiming there were no more “sticking points”.

“We have a good chance of doing it, we’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said, confirming that negotiations were “still ongoing”.

He added that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened as soon as they sign a ceasefire deal, having earlier claimed that the blockade could continue until Labour Day in September.

Hours after Israel and Iran paused their strikes, an Apache helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, though the cause is not yet clear.

The US military Central Command (Centcom) said a navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew members from the waters of the Strait of Hormuz within two hours. Both are now in a stable condition.

Apache helicopters cost around $35 million to $40 million, and have been used by the US military to police a blockade of Iranian ports near the strait, as part of its large military presence in the region.

They have been previously used to attack Iranian small boats – but the US military has not said whether the helicopter was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem.