Lebanon said at least six people, including the mayor of southern Lebanese city Nabatieh were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday on municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, where Hezbollah and ally Amal hold sway, with an official saying the mayor was among the dead.
The attacks were among 11 strikes on Nabatiyeh city and its surroundings that created a kind of belt of fire in the area, the local official had earlier told AFP.
“The Israeli enemy raid … on two buildings, that of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities, killed five people, the health ministry said in a statement.
It added that the death toll was preliminary and that rescuers were still searching for survivors under the rubble.
“The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others … was martyred. It’s a massacre, Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk told AFP.
She added that the mayor, Ahmad Kahil, had been in the municipality building with his team during a daily crisis management meeting.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers also told AFP the mayor was among several people killed in the strike on the municipality building.
They also said the strikes destroyed the municipality building and a nearby medical facility, with two doctors among the dead.
AFP footage showed several plumes of grey smoke rising from Nabatiyeh, following the consecutive strikes.
On Saturday, Israeli strikes razed the city’s main marketplace and wounded eight people there, the health ministry had said.
At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel
launched an intense air campaign on Sept 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
The escalation followed nearly a year of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops over the Gaza war.
Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank are facing “the most dangerous olive season ever”, experts said on Wednesday, urging Israeli settlers and forces not to interfere with the harvest.
AFP also reports that the experts also recommended a “foreign presence” to act as a buffer between the two sides.
According to AFP, a dozen experts said farmers were facing intimidation, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces.
“In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers,” the independent experts said in a statement.
Last year, they said:“Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest level of Israeli settler violence.”
Settlers had assaulted Palestinians, set fire to or damaged their crops, stolen sheep and blocked them from getting to their land, water and grazing areas, the statement added.
“Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past 30 years,” they said, adding that the situation was “expected to worsen”.
Olive harvests are central to Palestinian life and culture, said the independent experts, who are mandated by the Human Rights Council but do not speak for the UN.
“Restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements,” they argued.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, was among the signatories, reports AFP.
The experts, also including those on the right to food, to safe drinking water and sanitation and to adequate housing, said Palestinian farmers were facing “enormous challenges, threats and harassment” in accessing their olive trees.
In 2023, more than 9,600 hectares (24,000 acres) of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank was not harvested due to Israeli-imposed restrictions, they said.
That had meant the loss of 1,200 metric tonnes of olive oil, worth $10m, they added.
“This situation is expected to worsen,” they warned, as the Israeli authorities had revoked or failed to issue permits allowing farmers to access their lands.
They urged Israeli forces to refrain from interfering with this year’s olive harvest, and “concentrate their efforts on withdrawing the occupation and dismantling the colonies”.
The experts said they would “continue to call for protection, including through a foreign presence acting as a buffer between the Palestinians and their aggressors, and to protect Palestinian farmers and their families”.
