Smoke billows during Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on Oct. 16, 2024. (Credit: Abbas Fakih/AFP)
The Israeli air force carried out around 15 strikes on Wednesday around 10 a.m. on the city of Nabatieh, in south Lebanon, and its surroundings, according to the sources of L'Orient Today's correspondent. These strikes notably targeted the city's municipal building during a meeting, killing at least six people.
The consecutive strikes on Nabatieh and the surrounding hills targeted Zebdine, Nabatieh al-Tahta, Nabatieh al-Faouqa, Kfar Tebnit and Kfar Joz, formed a "belt of fire" in and around the city. They were carried out with large-caliber missiles and their detonations were heard as far as Saida.
Among these strikes, a bombing targeted the city's serail, the seat of the municipal authorities, of Nabatieh, where a meeting of the local "crisis cell" was taking place, chaired by the president of the municipal council, Ahmad Kahil. He was killed, and with him Sadeq Issa, a member of the municipal council, a media manager within the municipality, Mohammad Bitar, Kassem Hijazi and Mohammad Zahri.
The Civil Defense announced the death of one of its members, Naji Fahd, who "was with his colleagues, to carry out his national and humanitarian duty" in the targeted building.
'Serving people until their last moments'
Nabatieh Governor Hwaida Turk confirmed to L'Orient Today that those killed along with the municipality president were part of the municipal "crisis cell," and that some bodies were still under the rubble of the building.
"The municipality president and other council members refused to leave the city to help the residents who remained there. They served the people until their last moments," she added.
According to Turk, civilians were also in the municipality during the bombing. "What happened, such a bombing of an official building, is unacceptable."
The strike was also denounced by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He condemned the bombings that "deliberately targeted a municipal council meeting" and denounced the international community, "before whose eyes" the offensive led by Israel in Lebanon is taking place, which "remains deliberately silent," which "encourages" Israel to continue its "crimes."
"If all the countries of the world are incapable of dissuading" the Israeli strikes on Lebanon, "is it useful to resort to the Security Council to demand a cease-fire," Mikati questioned?
Relief and assistance to residents
The caretaker Minister of the Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, "firmly" condemned the attack "which killed the president of the municipality, members of the Municipal Council and civil servants, as well as a member of the Civil Defense, and injured innocent citizens."
He added that the crisis cell was meeting to "coordinate relief operations and prepare aid to be distributed to the inhabitants" of the region.
Shortly after the strikes, the Israeli army said, in a statement, that it had targeted "dozens of Hezbollah targets," including "military buildings, headquarters and arms depots" of the party "near civilian buildings."
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, Israeli strikes had already targeted the center of Nabatieh and destroyed centuries-old souks.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.