▲ Smoke rises over the southern Lebanese village of Arab Salim following an Israeli airstrike.
Local Lebanese media and foreign outlets reported on the 6th (local time) that at least four people were killed and about 20 others were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon.
While Israel claimed the strikes were a legitimate response to a drone attack by Hezbollah, the destruction of civilian areas and government offices has prompted Lebanon to call for urgent US intervention.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, today's Israeli airstrikes killed a total of four people, including two women, in the southern areas of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Arab Salim.
In addition, at least 20 people, including three children and women, were injured in locations such as downtown Nabatieh.
The airstrikes also caused a cascade of damage to civilian and public infrastructure.
In downtown Nabatieh, historic offices belonging to the finance and agriculture authorities were damaged, while the non-operational Gandour Hospital in Nabatieh al-Fawqa was completely destroyed.
The Israeli military stated that the strikes were a measure in response to a Hezbollah drone attack targeting Israeli soldiers.
Israel claimed that "the destroyed Gandour Hospital was used as a command center by operatives directing Hezbollah's offensive operations," arguing that it was a precision strike to eliminate security threats.
Furthermore, prior to the strikes, the Israeli military designated a specific building in Arab Salim as a Hezbollah facility and issued an online evacuation order for the first time in a month.
However, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) pointed out that there was no prior warning given for other targeted areas, including the home where the two women were killed.
As the large-scale airstrikes occurred amid an unstable truce, Lebanese authorities strongly pushed back.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued an emergency statement, saying, "Despite the ceasefire agreement, a dangerous escalation has taken place, causing damage even to state institutions and medical facilities." He appealed for the international community, including the United States, to take urgent action to halt Israel's violations.
Nabatieh Mayor Abbas Fahreddin also urged, "The Lebanese government must step up and at least defend state institutions."
This marks the second time that the buildings housing the finance and agriculture authorities have suffered damage from airstrikes.
Despite a broad memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached with Iran under US mediation last June and the subsequent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli military has continued military operations within a self-declared "security zone" spanning approximately 10 km in southern Lebanon.
Since Hezbollah intervened in the conflict last March to support Iran, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have left more than 4,300 dead in Lebanon to date.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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