America News Agency

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that 16 people were killed and 52 injured in the attack on Wednesday morning in Nabatieh, which was part of a series of strikes. Governor of Nabatieh, Howaida Turk, said that the provincial capital's crisis committee was holding a meeting at the time.

This was Israel's most significant attack on Lebanese state institutions since the conflict with the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah began a year ago, following a week of intense air bombardment across Lebanon.

A government civil defense center in Nabatieh was also hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing 50-year-old Naji Fahs, who had been serving in emergency response teams since 2002.

Later in the afternoon, the Lebanese Red Cross said that two medical workers were lightly injured after Israel struck a site in Joya in southern Lebanon, where rescue teams were trying to save people wounded in a previous attack.