A day after being the target of at least 15 Israeli aerial bombardments, the city of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, is a heap of ruins. Soot and the smell of burning remain in the air in this city 30 kilometers from the border with Israel. You can hear Israeli fighter jets flying, bombings and the response of fighters from the extremist group Hezbollah, with rockets.
The city received orders to evacuate civilians given by Israeli forces before Wednesday’s attack (16). But Nabatieh Mayor Ahmad Kahil and other city officials insisted on staying. They planned to discuss distributing humanitarian aid to the few Lebanese who refuse to leave their homes. One of the bombings hit the city hall in the middle of the meeting and killed the mayor and five other people. In total, 16 dead and 52 injured in the city.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack, saying Israel had intentionally targeted municipal workers who were distributing aid.
Nabatieh is now a ghost town, like most of the towns in southern Lebanon and the roads in the region, where only a few Lebanese Army vehicles travel. Cities and villages in southern Lebanon are bombed daily.
This Thursday (17), the report found dozens of buildings and houses destroyed, debris everywhere, smoke and deserted streets. The city, which is majority Shiite and controlled by Hezbollah, had several posters of Nassan Nasrallah, the faction leader killed in an Israeli bombing raid in late September.
On the walls and posts, there were also dozens of photos of dead fighters, called martyrs, of members of the extremist group and the Amal party, also Shiite. A single resident, who identified himself as Ali, walked among the rubble. “I was alone here. I’ve been here since the beginning of the war and I saw everything,” said the man on crutches, who appeared to be disoriented.
The reporter left the scene after being approached by Hezbollah fighters who arrived on motorbikes.
Nabatieh had been bombed last week. A historic landmark in the city was destroyed at the time — an Ottoman-era market from 1910. But the city had been under attack since Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel in support of Hamas, following terrorist attacks that killed around 1,200 in Israel on October 7, 2023. In Gaza, more than 43,000 people have died, according to data from the local Ministry of Health, controlled by the Palestinian faction.
A spokesman for Israeli forces stated that Tel Aviv had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Nabatieh area. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Danny Danon, accused the Lebanese group of taking advantage of civilian infrastructure.
Binyamin Netanyahu’s country claims to have two objectives in its offensive in Lebanon — to weaken Hezbollah and push it further across the border, above the Litani River, following UN resolution 1701. According to the Israeli government, this would allow 60,000 displaced Israelis from the north of the country to return to their homes, and Netanyahu has already highlighted this return as one of his objectives in the conflict.
The Israeli civilian evacuation orders, however, involve more than 150 towns in southern Lebanon, many of them high above the Litani River, casting doubt on the alleged objective of merely following the resolution.
In the Christian town of Marjayoun, 8 kilometers from the Israeli border, the scenario is different. The place was practically spared — since the conflict escalated in September, two cars passing through the village were bombed, but there was no destruction of houses like in Nabatieh.
However, Israeli forces reached the city’s hospital where rescue teams were working, so Marjayoun is now without access to medical services. Furthermore, the city is surrounded by villages where there was a land invasion by Israel and where there continues to be intense bombing, such as Kfar Kila and Khiam.
Furthermore, Marjayoun is in front of positions from which Hezbollah attacks Israel. “The problem is that Hezbollah attacks with Katyusha (Soviet-era rockets), without any control, and they fall anywhere, meaning we are vulnerable to attacks from both Hezbollah and Israel,” says Amer, a councilor from Marjayoun who spoke to the reporter, but did not want to give his last name.
Residents say they feel like walking targets amid the conflict between the two neighboring countries. Most say they prefer to only travel by car, because they are based on the idea that Israel has already identified their vehicles and they know that they are not members of Hezbollah. “If we are walking, there is no guarantee,” says Hassan (not his real name), a resident of the city who works with the UN and also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another fear is the infiltration of Hezbollah members into the city. According to them, many members of the extremist group are using houses abandoned by people who fled to Beirut to stockpile weapons. “I’ll know if one of them is hiding next to my house and Israel will bomb it,” says Hassan.
Amer, the councilor, estimates that, of the 2,500 inhabitants of Marjayou before the conflict, only 240 are still in the city — which would represent a 90% reduction in the population.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed at least 2,367 people. The injured total more than 11 thousand.
