Mayor of Lebanon's Nabatiyeh among those killed in latest Israeli strikes, say local officials

16 Oct 2024, 09:31 by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ie

LEBANON SAID FIVE people were killed in Israeli strikes today on municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, where Hezbollah and ally Amal hold sway.

An official said the mayor was among the dead.

The attacks were among 11 strikes on Nabatiyeh city and its surroundings that created “a kind of belt of fire” in the area, the local official said.

“The Israeli enemy raid… on two buildings, that of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities, killed five people,” the health ministry said in a statement.

It added that the death toll was preliminary and that rescuers were still searching for survivors under the rubble.

“The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others… was martyred. It’s a massacre,” Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk said.

She added that the mayor, Ahmad Kahil, had been in the municipality building with his team during a daily crisis management meeting.

Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers have said the mayor was among several people killed in the strike on the municipality building.

They also said the strikes destroyed the municipality building and a nearby medical facility, with two doctors among the dead.

Footage showed several plumes of grey smoke rising from Nabatiyeh, following the consecutive strikes.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes razed the city’s main marketplace and wounded eight people there, the health ministry had said.

At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an intense air campaign on 23 September 23, according to a tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

The escalation followed nearly a year of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops over the Gaza war.

Today’s strikes follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissing calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it would leave Hezbollah forces near his country’s border.

Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the offensive came as the United States ramped up pressure on Israel, criticising the bombing of Beirut and urging more aid access for Gazans.

In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said he was “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was”, according to his office.

Israel insists it needs a buffer zone along its northern border, free of Hezbollah fighters.

“Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this (a buffer zone) and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping,” the statement said.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand its missile strikes across Israel.

“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, he said.

Israel is also weighing how to respond to Iran’s launch of about 200 missiles at the country on 1 October.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel – and not its top ally the United States – would decide how to strike back.

“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest,” it said.

Iran’s top diplomat told UN chief Antonio Guterres his country was ready for a “decisive and regretful” response if Israel attacks, his office said.

The Iranian barrage was in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another that killed Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan on 27 September.

- © AFP 2024