Five people were killed and eight others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon in the early hours of June 9, the Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed.
The attack is part of an ongoing wave of airstrikes in the coastal city of Tyre, where local health authorities have reported a growing number of civilian casualties and damage to key infrastructure in recent days. The city of Tyre and its surrounding areas have come under intense shelling by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with previous strikes hitting medical centers and areas near hospitals in the city.
Local civil defense teams and ambulances continue to pull victims from the rubble in southern Lebanon, while the UN expresses deep concern about the deteriorating situation despite diplomatic attempts to achieve a lasting ceasefire. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the total death toll in the country since the start of the renewed conflict on March 2 has now exceeded 3,600 people, with more than 11,000 injured.
The intensive bombing by the Israeli air force against the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on June 7 and 8 damaged archaeological sites, said Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh.
“The bombings were aimed at neighborhoods located in close proximity to ancient ruins included in the UNESCO World Heritage List - the agora and the Roman colonnade“, the minister wrote on his Facebook page.
He called on the international community to protect the antiquities of Tyre from destruction, recalling that Israeli airstrikes had previously damaged the ancient hippodrome and necropolis. "It is necessary to avoid attacks on the ruins of Tyre, which are part of the heritage of all humanity," Salameh said, accusing Israel of not respecting the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
Ali Badawi, director of the Department for the Protection of Archaeological Sites in South Lebanon at the Ministry of Culture, reported damage to columns, capitals and mosaics at the El Mina Archaeological Park in the old city. He said authorities would fully assess the damage once the fighting had stopped and archaeologists could safely access the ruins.
Yesterday, Iran and Israel accepted US President Donald Trump's call for an immediate ceasefire after the heaviest exchange of fire since April, with the situation developing as follows:
Iran's Civil Aviation Authority announced that Iran's airspace was fully open and flights were operating as normal. Israeli authorities announced that as of 6:00 a.m. local time, all restrictions on schools and workplaces in the country would be lifted.
Israeli military intercepted a "suspicious" aircraft that violated the airspace over the southern part of the country, the army press service reported.
According to the statement, the incident occurred near the city of Eilat, located on the Red Sea coast. An air alert was issued there due to the threat of an attack.
The aircraft was launched from territory controlled by the Houthis in Yemen, and the “suspicious aerial target“ was intercepted, the army said. There were no reports of damage or casualties yet.
The major risk of the ceasefire breaking comes from southern Lebanon. Tehran has announced that it will adhere to the ceasefire only if Israel stops its offensive against Hezbollah.
Benjamin Netanyahu categorically refused to link the ceasefire with Iran to its operations in Lebanon. Israeli forces said they would step up strikes against Hezbollah.
Both sides have said they are open to continuing talks on a permanent peace deal brokered by the United States. Tehran, however, has stressed that the talks are being held in an atmosphere of "extreme suspicion" and that Washington must fundamentally change its behavior to achieve a lasting result.