Israeli missiles hailed down on neighborhoods south of Beirut on Tuesday, shortly after Israel issued evacuation warnings for 11 buildings — an unusually large number — in the Dahiya, an area where the militant group Hezbollah holds sway.
Plumes of thick, acrid smoke rose above the skyline of the Lebanese capital after a heavy wave of missiles shook the area, sending schoolchildren running for cover miles from the blasts as Israeli surveillance drones buzzed overhead.
The attack came after Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, issued evacuation orders for buildings in the Dahiya that it deemed to be near “Hezbollah facilities or interests.” The Dahiya was once a bustling, densely packed suburb, but most residents have fled in recent months. The Lebanese and Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on casualties or damage.
Tuesday’s attack followed an aggressive volley of strikes a day earlier. Israel hit towns in Lebanon’s south and far north, killing at least 15 people, according to the country’s health ministry. At the same time, Hezbollah was firing back, sending 90 projectiles into northern Israel, the Israeli military said. Some slipped past Israel’s Iron Dome defenses and at least three people were injured, Israeli officials said.
That all amounted to an escalation from both sides. Hezbollah’s rocket fire on Monday was larger than usual. Israel ordered evacuations for more buildings than usual on Tuesday. And on Monday night, Israel also launched one of its deepest strikes into northern Lebanon since the war began, killing eight people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The intensifying violence appeared to undercut a simultaneous diplomatic push toward a temporary cease-fire to contain the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a confrontation that began last October when the Iran-backed militant group launched cross-border assaults in support of Hamas in Gaza. Lebanese and United Nations officials say 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than a fifth of the population has been displaced.
Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said on Monday that the United States had renewed efforts to broker talks, adding: “There is progress.” But that stance was soon contradicted by his predecessor, Israel Katz, who was named as defense minister last week. In an online post early Tuesday, Mr. Katz said he had met with Israeli generals and told them to continue the offensive against Hezbollah.
“In Lebanon, there will be no cease-fire and there will be no respite,” he wrote. “We will continue to hit Hezbollah with full force until the goals of the war are achieved. Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel’s right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own.”