Israel carried out airstrikes on Nabatieh, southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, successfully hitting a building in which local government officials had gathered, according to Howaida Turk, governor of the province of Nabatieh. Among those killed by the Israeli attack was the Nabatieh mayor.
Sources indicate that the local government was meeting to address the crisis the region is enduring. At the municipal headquarters, they were coordinating aid deliveries to residents and internally displaced cities in Lebanon.
This is the most significant attack on local institutions by Israel since the war with Hezbollah broke out.
Efforts to rescue people under rubble after Israeli airstrikes
Israel’s precision strike caused major destruction in the area, and the paramedic association in Nabatieh said it expected the number of casualties to go up in the aftermath of the attack.
A government civil defense center in Nabatieh was also hit in the attack, and the Lebanese Red Cross said two of its paramedics were injured following an Israeli airstrike in Joya, southern Lebanon.
The interim prime minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli strike and said they “intentionally targeted” local government employees that were meeting to discuss plans to help those affected by the conflict.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who is the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, also condemned the attack. Hennis-Plasschaert said that civilian suffering in Lebanon had reached unprecedented levels, and it was crucial to protect civilians at all times.
Today, the IDF violently bombed Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, the mayor of the city and his staff were eliminated. pic.twitter.com/PHseQFPWI8
— Ph.Gritti (@Philipp27960841) October 16, 2024
Israel said it hit Hezbollah targets in Nabatieh, Lebanon
After the airstrike attack was carried out in the Nabatieh area on Wednesday, October 16th, Israel said it hit various Hezbollah targets in the area, with its navy successfully hitting “launchers, military positions, and weapons caches” in this region of Lebanon.
On October 3rd, Israel had ordered the city of Nabatieh to be evacuated, as there was a planned attack on Hezbollah targets there. Some city locals, as well as displaced citizens, stayed in the city, however, resulting in the surge of casualties after the attack.
One notable building that was destroyed after Israel intensified its attacks in the city was an Ottoman market that dated back to 1910.
Additionally, Israel struck Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday after days of relative calmness in the capital city of Lebanon.
The United Nations human rights office once again called for an open investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed 24 people last Monday in the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon. The strike was carried out in a residential block that was meant to be rented to people who were displaced from fighting in the south. All of the people killed in the attack were displaced civilians.