Lebanon Mayor among 16 killed as municipal building is hit by IDF strike

The mayor of one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon has been killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit the city's municipal headquarters during a meeting to coordinate aid deliveries to residents and those displaced by war.

- William Christou

The strike, one of a series on Nabatieh yesterday morning, killed 16 people including the mayor, Ahmad Kahil, and wounded 52, the Lebanese health ministry said. Members of the provincial capital's crisis committee were meeting at the time, said Howaida Turk, the governor of Nabatieh province.

It was the most significant Israeli hit yet on a Lebanese state institution since fighting between Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah broke out a year ago. It followed a week of intensifying aerial bombardment across Lebanon.

Efforts to rescue people from the rubble stretched into the afternoon.

A government civil defence centre in Nabatieh was also hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing Naji Fahs, 50, who worked as a member of the emergency response force.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the attack, saying Israel had "intentionally targeted" municipal employees while they were meeting to discuss humanitarian aid efforts.