Oct 16, 2024 – Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 21 people on Tuesday, including a city mayor, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated. The airstrikes targeted several areas in the south, with the town of Qana suffering the heaviest toll, where 15 people were killed.
Rescue workers combed through the rubble in Qana, using bulldozers to search for survivors after buildings collapsed, including some that were reduced to rubble. The destruction harked back to previous Israeli bombardments, with memories of a 1996 Israeli artillery strike that killed over 100 civilians still fresh in local minds. Mayor Mohammed Krasht, in an interview, expressed the community’s despair, saying, “Qana always gets its share.”
Elsewhere, a strike in Nabatiyeh, a city in southern Lebanon, killed six people, including the city’s mayor, Ahmad Kahil. The attack targeted a municipal council meeting, which was coordinating relief efforts in the war-torn region. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the strike, accusing Israel of “intentionally targeting” the meeting.
The Israeli military did not provide immediate comment on the strikes but claimed they were aimed at Hezbollah command centers and weapon facilities embedded in civilian areas of Nabatiyeh. Israeli forces also resumed airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting what they described as an arms warehouse under a residential building.
The violence comes amid a prolonged war between Hezbollah and Israel, triggered by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israeli towns in support of Hamas’ recent assault on southern Israel. In the past month, Israeli strikes have killed over 2,300 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced.
The United Nations has condemned the mounting civilian casualties in Lebanon, with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, expressing alarm over the escalating violence targeting civilians and infrastructure.
Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon has been met with increased rocket fire from Hezbollah, which has escalated its attacks on Israel, driving tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes in the north.
As the conflict drags on, efforts for a ceasefire appear distant, despite previous attempts brokered by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar to stem the violence.
