At least 16 people, including a mayor of Nabatiyeh, Ahmad Kahil, have been killed and 52 were wounded in an Israeli air strike on the municipal headquarters in a city in southern Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at the time of the strike on Wednesday morning, October 16, Kahil was conducting a meeting to coordinate aid deliveries to residents and those displaced by war.
“The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others was martyred. It’s a massacre,” AFP quoted Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk as saying.
The strike occurred during Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon, targeting areas controlled by Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
“Health care facilities, mosques, historical markets, residential complexes and now government buildings are being reduced to rubble,” the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, said in a statement.
Since September 23, the Israeli army has been conducting an unprecedented, intensive air attack on Lebanon, escalating the conflict with Hezbollah.
Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been engaging in fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border, amidst concerns about a broader conflict in the Gaza.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have resulted in 2,367 deaths and 11,088 injuries since October 8.
UN officials report that Israeli attacks in Lebanon have displaced approximately a million people, with over 25 percent of the country under Israeli evacuation orders.
