UPDATE - At least 16 killed in Israeli airstrikes on municipal buildings in southern Lebanon

UPDATES WITH MORE CASUALTIES, MORE DETAILS FROM ISRAELI ARMY

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) - At least 16 people were killed and 52 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on municipal buildings in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said efforts were underway to search for survivors under the rubble from the attacks.

The state news agency NNA said at least 10 airstrikes were launched by Israeli warplanes on Nabatieh this morning.

Other strikes were reported in Lower Nabatieh, Khiyam, Adaisseh, and Markaba, all in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the international community’s silence over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“Is it still useful to resort to the UN Security Council to demand a cease-fire?" he asked.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army carried out a series of violent airstrikes on several towns and regions in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least 23 people and injuring 31 others.

In a related development, the Israeli army claimed that it had assassinated Jalal Mustafa Hariri, the Hezbollah commander of the Qana area in southern Lebanon.

A military statement said: “Hariri was responsible for the planning and execution of a large number of attacks against the State of Israel from the Qana area.”

“Along with Hariri, the Hezbollah members responsible for artillery strikes and anti-tank missiles from the area were also eliminated,” the army alleged.

Israel has pursued a huge air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing more than 1 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite warnings against escalating the war into a larger regional conflict, Israel expanded it on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar