Israeli strikes kill at least 32 people across Lebanon in one day, and the army orders new evacuations north of the Litani River

Lebanon health ministry said at least 32 people were killed in Israeli strikes across the country on Friday, as of October 23, the Associated Press reported. The strikes hit hardest around Tyre and Nabatieh in the south. In the border village of Aitaroun, a strike on a car killed three farmers who were working their land.

Israel military also ordered residents of a town north of the Litani River to leave, widening the evacuation map beyond the southern border strip where most of the fighting has stayed. Israel says its campaign targets Hezbollah fighters and weapons, and the two sides have traded fire through the ceasefire understanding reached in April, with the toll climbing again this month.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned what he called the killing of civilians and farmers and said the strikes were a flagrant violation of the ceasefire understandings. President Joseph Aoun, speaking at the United Nations Security Council in New York, accused Israel of working to undermine efforts to extend the authority of the Lebanese state over its own territory.

Hezbollah said on Friday that it had shot down an Israeli drone over the south. The claim could not be verified from the reporting available at publication.

Friday toll was one of the highest single day counts of the autumn. It landed on the same day Israel closed the West Bank through its national election after the shooting near Hebron, and two days of strikes have now killed people in Lebanon, the West Bank and Jordan in three separate attacks that share one region and one week.