Israeli attack on Tyre in Lebanon kills eight as evacuation ordered for Christian quarter

Israeli airstrikes on Tyre killed eight and injured at least 32 people on Tuesday morning. Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Israeli airstrikes on Tyre killed eight and injured at least 32 people on Tuesday morning. Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images Israeli attack on Tyre in Lebanon kills eight as evacuation ordered for Christian quarter People flee historic district of ancient city after airstrikes hit residential areas and damage archaeological sites Middle East crisis – live updates Israel has bombed the city of Tyre, killing eight and injuring at least 32 people, and struck dozens of other villages in south Lebanon as it issued forced evacuation orders for the historic Christian quarter of the ancient city for the first time. Israel struck the al-Masaken neighbourhood without warning on Tuesday morning, sending smoke plumes high above the city’s buildings and igniting fires. Further airstrikes were carried out across the city and a series of bombings hit Abbasieh, a village north of Tyre. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli soldiers in the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. The Israeli army said it had killed a “terrorist” who had crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel and opened fire on Israeli soldiers – the first time in this round of fighting that a fighter from Lebanon had crossed the border. It was unclear if the gunman was affiliated with Hezbollah . View image in fullscreen People packed their vehicles to flee from Tyre after Israel’s evacuation warning on Tuesday. Photograph: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images Shortly after the bombings in Tyre, Israel issued a forced evacuation warning for Palestinian refugee camps in the city, as well as for the Christian quarter, claiming members of Hezbollah had infiltrated the area and could attack. Hundreds of people fled the Christian quarter after the forced evacuation announcement, with cars packed with mattresses and belongings jamming the narrow streets of the historic port neighbourhood. The Christian quarter had not been struck by Israel previously and had been considered a safe zone amid a city otherwise under bombardment. Many Shia Muslim residents of the city had moved there in hope of safety. Last week, the Lebanese army was deployed to the district as displaced people arrived, to show that Hezbollah had no armed presence in the area and to try to prevent Israeli attacks. View image in fullscreen Israeli airstrikes on Sunday hit near the archaeological site of Tyre’s Roman hippodrome. Photograph: Kawnat Haju/AFP/Getty Images Christian religious leaders from three different denominations in Tyre called on the international community and the Lebanese state to prevent Israel from attacking the neighbourhood. The leaders appealed to the global community to “take immediate and serious action to spare the old quarter of Tyre from destruction and human tragedies”. “The old city is not merely a residential area,” the clergy said. “