Israeli attacks kill municipal employee, civil defense member in southern Lebanon

A member of the civil defense and a municipal employee in Nabatieh were killed Thursday in two Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, according to information from our correspondent in the region, Mountasser Abdallah. The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed the reports of two people killed and one injured in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

In the evening, a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted several southern Lebanese villages, particularly the Barghaz valley (Hasbaya district), Mahmoudieh, Qatrani and Rihani (Jezzine), Tibna near Baissariyeh (Saida), Iqlim al-Touffah (Nabatieh) as well as a forested area around Yater (Bint Jbeil).  An Israeli drone strike also targeted the Salhani area, on the outskirts of Ramieh.

These attacks occur as the head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lázaro, warned of the "tense and unpredictable situation" along the Blue Line, on the occasion of International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers.

Nabatieh mourns municipal employee, Israel alleges Hezbollah target

In Nabatieh Fawqa (Nabatieh), at the entrance to Ali al-Taher forest, an Israeli drone strike killed Mahmoud Atwi, a municipal employee, who was heading to the forest to activate a water pumping station.

In a statement, the Israeli army alleged to have targeted "a Hezbollah terrorist" who was "rehabilitating a site used" by the group "to manage its firing and defense network." Israel regularly claims to target Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon, where the group's military infrastructure must be dismantled according to the terms of the cease-fire agreement, which stipulates that only U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese Army should be deployed in this area. Since this agreement, concluded in November 2024, at least 150 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli strikes and fire, according to our count. The U.N. has reported 71 civilian deaths.

The mayor of the locality, Zein Ghandour, accused Israel of targeting a civilian facility, claiming that "the attack targeted a civilian facility belonging to the municipality, namely the artesian well that supplies several neighborhoods with drinking water." According to him, the municipal employee "was there during his working hours to operate the well and pump water to homes and residential neighborhoods," which led to him being killed by Israel.

"From our official position, we condemn in the strongest terms this blatant aggression against civilians, civilian facilities and an official institution of the Lebanese state, preventing it from fulfilling its duty and providing services to the inhabitants and civilians," said Ghandour. "All concerned parties, both local and international, [must] follow this case and put an end to these repeated and totally unacceptable [Israeli] violations," said the president of the municipality of Nabatieh Fawqa.

Kfar Kila residents protest Israeli fire at civilians

In another incident on Thursday morning, Khoder Fakih, a member of the al-Rissala scouts' civil defense (affiliated with the Amal Movement), was shot dead by the Israeli army while inspecting his house near the border wall in the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun). His family, without news of his whereabouts, alerted the Lebanese Army, which found him dead in his home.

In the evening, Kfar Kila residents held a sit-in at the Deir Mimas-Kfar Kila junction to protest the Israeli army fire targeting civilians walking in the village.

Protesters called on the Lebanese state, president and prime minister to ensure their safety and threatened to block the Marjayoun-Nabatieh road if no concrete measures were taken. They also met with a representative of the Lebanese Army to discuss ways to reduce the risks to civilians.

Also on Thursday, on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba, in the Hasbaya region, Israeli forces fired a machine gun from their position at Roweissat al-Alam. In the afternoon, an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade on the village of Beit Lif (Bint Jbeil), injuring a person. Other drones flew over the villages of Srifa, Mahrouna, Maarakeh, Maaroub and surrounding areas (Sour), as well as Qaaqaaiet al-Jisr (Nabatieh).

Finally, in a statement, the Lebanese Army announced that it had "removed several mounds of earth and reopened roads on the outskirts of the village of Odaisseh (Marjayoun), in coordination with UNIFIL." These obstacles had been installed by the Israeli army. "During the unit’s intervention, enemy soldiers, accompanied by a tank, attempted to prevent the army from continuing its work, without success," according to the Lebanese Army.