At least eight killed in Israeli drone strikes on Lebanon highway

Two children among those killed after three strikes hit cars on the highway in Jiyeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said.Three Israeli drone strikes on cars on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon have killed at least eight people, including two children, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health reported.A photograph of the bombed cars shared by Lebanon’s National News Agency following the attacks on Wednesday in the Jiyeh area, some 20km (12 miles) south of the Lebanese capital, showed the vehicles severely damaged, their exteriors charred and torn apart.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel’s war creating a ‘lost generation’ of Lebanese studentslist 2 of 3Israel kills, injures average of 4 children daily amid Lebanon ‘ceasefire’list 3 of 3Israeli military kills six in Lebanon, issues more displacement threatsend of listAl Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, said the “conflict is only escalating”.“It is a conflict that is taking a high toll on the civilians who live in these areas,” she said.Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington on Thursday, brokered by the United States.Hezbollah, which has been launching attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli troops who have entered and occupied a section of southern Lebanon, says it opposes the negotiations in the US.On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for the residents of Meiss el-Jabal, Yanouh, Burj Shemali, Hula, Debl and Aabbasiyyeh, warning that it will soon act against these six southern Lebanese villages “forcefully”.Anyone who remains “endangers their life,” the military said, warning residents to move at least 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) away to “open areas”.First responders carry the body of a victim at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the town of Jiyeh [Fadel Itani/AFP]After this new round of forced displacement orders – which have been happening almost daily in the past week – Al Jazeera’s Khodr said one of the few remaining hospitals in the area was in the displacement zone.