BEIRUT: The municipal headquarters in Nabatieh, a major town in south Lebanon, was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on Wednesday, killing the mayor and 15 others as they met to coordinate aid for war victims.
The attack raised concerns that Israel’s expanding air campaign to crush Hezbollah might increasingly target public officials and buildings—which have so far been spared—in addition to the terrorist organization.
Lebanon’s overseer Head of the state Najib Mikati censured the assault on the common capital, saying it “purposefully designated a gathering of the civil chamber to examine the city’s administration and help circumstance”.
Despite US concerns about rising death tolls and the possibility of all-out war in the oil-producing Middle East, it was the most significant Israeli attack on a Lebanese state building since it expanded its offensive last month.
Israel has claimed in recent weeks that it wants to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure in order to permit tens of thousands of Israelis to return home to the country’s north by assassinating Hezbollah’s senior leadership and entering southern border towns.
A reporter contacted Nabatieh’s mayor, Ahmed Kahil, to inquire if he would leave after Israel first issued an evacuation notice on October 3.
He claimed not to.
Israel’s military said it had struck many Hezbollah focuses in the Nabatieh region and its naval force likewise hit many focuses in southern Lebanon.
It released a video of multiple explosions shaking a group of buildings and claiming to have “dismantled” a tunnel network used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in the heart of a town near the Israel-Iran border.
Lebanese authorities said it was the humble community of Mhaibib, home to a strict sanctum.
After the Israeli attack on Nabatieh, according to Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN special coordinator for Lebanon, civilian suffering had reached an all-time high.
One Israeli air strike on Wednesday morning targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Witnesses reported hearing two explosions and observing smoke plumes rising from two distinct neighborhoods. The impacts came after Israel gave a clearing request which referenced just a single structure.
