The mayor of a major town in southern Lebanon was among 16 people killed when an Israeli airstrike destroyed the municipal headquarters, marking the most significant attack on an official Lebanese state building since the onset of Israel’s air campaign.
Lebanese officials condemned the strike, which also injured more than 50 people in Nabatieh, the provincial capital, asserting that it demonstrated Israel’s shift from targeting Hezbollah to striking at the Lebanese state itself.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated that the Israelis “intentionally targeted a meeting of the municipal council that was discussing the city’s service and relief efforts” for those displaced by the Israeli operations.
As fears of a regional conflict escalate following Israel’s promise to retaliate for an Iranian missile attack on October 1, the U.S. reported it had struck five underground weapons storage sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen—part of more than a dozen U.S. attacks on Houthi-linked targets this month.
Meanwhile, Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen have claimed nearly 100 attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea since November, citing solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza.
In related developments, Israel launched strikes on Syria’s Mediterranean port city of Latakia early Thursday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. Firefighters were reportedly working to extinguish fires that broke out, while Syrian state television noted that the country’s air defenses had engaged Israeli targets over Latakia.
