Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over Tyre on Tuesday morning, warning people not to use vehicles south of the Litani River and heightening the city’s sense of isolation.
All roads north and south of the port city have been cut by bombing in the past few days and Israeli authorities have refused permission for any ships to dock.
The travel ban had no time limit and mentioned no exceptions, even for ambulances and humanitarian convoys. Addressed to ”Lebanese civilians south of the Litani River”, it said: ”Read this carefully and follow its instructions. The Israeli Defence Forces will escalate their operations and will strike with force against terrorist elements who are using you as human shields and firing rockets from inside your homes against Israel …” All vehicles would be bombed, the letter said. It was signed ”State of Israel”.
The warning had an immediate effect. The city’s streets virtually emptied on Tuesday. Most shops were shuttered, and there were few pedestrians on the pavements along the main roads. Only in the alleys of the medieval quarter was there an occasional group of people on chairs outside their front doors.
”I don’t have any food for customers,” said Abu Ali, a café owner. ”My wife and children have gone to Beirut. No one’s sleeping. They’re constantly planning what to do if anything happens”. He hinted that if the Israelis entered the town, he would fight them. ”I’m a civilian who’s ready for anything, day or night,” he said. Asked if he had a gun, he repeated his comment.
Standing by his sandwich shop, Houssam Nasser said: ”We normally get supplies of bread and meat every day. Now they’ve stopped. I’ll keep my shop open but won’t have anything to sell.” But he was not planning to leave in spite of the siege.
At the police station, a detective said staff had not been able to move. The government had ordered all police to stay on their jobs, even if they sent their families away, but with the travel ban they could not work properly. ”I don’t how long this will last. It’s the Israelis who decide,” he said.
Local and international humanitarian organisations tried to get exemption from the travel ban by applying to the Israeli authorities for permission to go out on urgent missions. Yusuf Khairalla, Tyre’s civil defence supervisor, said the city was isolated. ”This is the first time this has happened,” he said.
His team was denied permission to travel to Maroub, about 16km outside the city, to rescue five people from under the rubble of a bombed house.
At the clinic staffed by Médecins sans Frontières, Dr Martial Ledecq, a surgeon, was sterilising equipment brought in from Beirut on Monday. The boxes had to be carried along a footbridge across the Litani River by volunteers because Israel destroyed the causeway on Sunday night, cutting Tyre off from road traffic.
”If there is fighting in town, we will be ready for operations. You will have noticed that the main hospitals are all on the eastern edge of town. We are the only one in the centre,” Ledecq said.
Jakob Kellenberger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, was forced to walk across the footbridge on a visit to Tyre on Tuesday. Access for civilians was his major concern, he said, a point he would emphasise during meetings in Israel on Wednesday.
With southern Lebanon now a virtual prison, the most fortunate people are the region’s official prisoners. ”We evacuated all 80 of them from Tibnin prison a week ago. They are safe now in Beirut,” said a detective at the police station.
Israeli jets hit targets all over Lebanon on Tuesday and at least four Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in two incidents near the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Hezbollah fighters remain entrenched.
Israeli soldiers said Hezbollah fighters were using classic guerrilla techniques to evade them and then hit them in the rear with anti-tank weapons. One soldier was killed in Bint Jbeil and three others killed in the coastal village of Labbouna.
Israel continued to shell and bomb the valleys near its border while it moved more armour from the south of Israel to the north. Aircraft bombed a village near Sidon that was burying 15 of its residents that were killed in air strikes earlier in the week. The missile hit a building a few minutes after the funeral procession had passed, causing panic but no injuries to the mourners. Lebanese officials said 14 people were killed in the attack. Police in Beirut said they discovered a further 14 bodies in buildings bombed on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army said its jets bombed 99 targets in Lebanon on Tuesday, while more than 165 rockets landed in Israel and caused minor injuries. Many of the Hezbollah rockets landed in fields, creating bush fires all over the north of Israel. Both sides of the border were covered by cloud that merged with the rising smoke.
Two Israeli tanks returning to Israel from Lebanon ran into a minefield on Tuesday. It was not clear if the mines had been laid by Israel or Hezbollah. One tank was damaged and sappers had to create an escape route for it using explosives.
Casualties
Lebanon on Tuesday
Hezbollah: Five killed
Civilians: 25 killed
To date
Hezbollah: 95 killed (Israeli Defence Forces claims more than 400)
Civilians: 998 killed
Israel on Tuesday
Military: Three killed
Wounded: Seven
To date
Military: 63 killed
Civilians: 35 killed
All figures based on Lebanon and Israel government estimates
— Guardian Unlimited Â