Eight killed in south Lebanon strike as Israel warns entire city to evacuate

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike as seen from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon. (Reuters)

An Israeli strike has killed at least eight people and injured more than 30 in Tyre, south Lebanon.

Doctors without Borders and Christian leaders in the city have called on the area to be spared from further strikes.

Israel has struck the southern Lebanese city of Tyre killing at least eight people and injuring more than 30, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Lebanon's health ministry described it as one of the deadliest Israeli bombing raids on Tyre since the war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah erupted on March 2.

The strike came as Israel's military issued an evacuation warning for the entire city of Tyre, including its north-western Christian quarter, which has so far been spared in the destructive airstrikes.

Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims had fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks.

An Israeli strike in Tyre, Lebanon killed at least eight people, according to Lebanon's health ministry. (Reuters)

Last week, the Israeli military said militants from Iran-backed Hezbollah were hiding out in that area, without providing evidence.

It urged Christians in the city to demand Hezbollah depart, and threatened to order the district's evacuation if the fighters did not leave.

Lebanese state media said people were fleeing the city on Tuesday, with civil defence teams transporting elderly residents who stayed behind into temporary shelters.

Cars packed with mattresses, luggage and household belongings stretched for kilometres along Lebanon’s coastal highway, as residents fled.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was deeply concerned by what it called "forced displacement practices," referring to Israel's warning for people to leave before the strikes.

It said they "expose people to further harm by compelling them to move in unsafe and chaotic conditions".

MSF said it had to suspend its medical activities at several hospitals nearby, as well as its mobile clinic operations, for the day.

Multiple Christian religious leaders from Tyre have also called on the international community and Lebanese officials to act quickly to prevent Israel from attacking the Christian district of the city.

“The old city is not merely a residential area,” clergy George Iskandar, Elias Kfoury and Charbel Abdullah said in their joint statement.

“It is the historical and human heart of Tyre, home to thousands of civilians, including families, children, and the elderly.

Two crew members aboard