The UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon has criticised Israel after air strikes on municipal buildings in the southern city of Nabatieh killed the mayor and 15 other people.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called the killing of mayor Ahmad Kahil “alarming” and said any violations of international humanitarian law were “completely unacceptable”.
At least five of those killed in Wednesday’s strike were municipal staff co-ordinating aid for civilians remaining in the area, Nabatiyeh Governor Howaida Turk told the BBC.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati condemned the attack, saying it had “intentionally” targeted a council meeting.
The attack was the most significant against a Lebanese state building since the latest escalation in fighting, which began about two weeks ago, and has raised concerns about the safety of the country’s state infrastructure.
A spokesman for the Israeli military said its forces had launched raids targeting dozens of Hezbollah targets in the area and destroyed a tunnel used by the Iran-backed group.
“We know that Hezbollah many times takes advantage of civilian facilities,” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said at a meeting of the UN in New York City on Wednesday.
Turk, the governor, said that while the majority of Nabatieh residents had already left the area following heavy Israeli air strikes, the mayor and other municipal employees had stayed behind to help those who remained.
“This is just like strikes all over Lebanon,” she said.
“They [Israel] have hit civilians, Red Cross, civil defence. Now they have targeted a government building. It is unacceptable. It is a massacre.”
Previous strikes on Nabatieh over the past few days have destroyed historic buildings, including an Ottoman-era market dating to 1910.