Lebanese Mountain Village Mourns Dead in Israeli Airstrike

 Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanese Mountain Village Mourns Dead in Israeli Airstrike

 Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)

A village in the mountains southeast of Beirut was in shock after an Israeli airstrike demolished a residential building and partly destroyed another, killing seven people, including three children.

Hadi Zahwe, a resident of the area, told reporters that the strike on Sunday was "terrifying."

"There were children killed, there were children’s body parts," he said. "This enemy is targeting civilian women and children."

Israel has carried out a widening aerial bombardment of many parts of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs over the past two weeks, targeting what it said were Hezbollah fighters and weapons.

It was not clear what the intended target was in Sunday’s strike, which was the first one to hit the area.

Mahmoud Nasr Eldin, the town’s deputy mayor, said the village contains "no security or military centers."

"There’s nothing in Qmatiyeh that they’re looking for — it’s a safe area," he said. "We welcomed around 15,000 internally displaced people. They are our people, they ran away from their villages and came to get protection here."



Türkiye's Erdogan Condemns Israel's Military Assault on Gaza and Lebanon

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb (unseen) after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb (unseen) after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
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Türkiye's Erdogan Condemns Israel's Military Assault on Gaza and Lebanon

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb (unseen) after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb (unseen) after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 01 October 2024. (EPA)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack to condemn Israel's military assault on Gaza and Lebanon.

"Today, I remember with sorrow the tens of thousands of people that the murderous Israeli government has massacred since Oct. 7," Erdogan said in a message posted on X. "I convey my most heartfelt condolences to my brothers from Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon."

An outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza and more recently the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Erdogan said: "Israel’s long-standing policy of genocide, occupation, and invasion must finally come to an end."

He has praised Hamas previously as a "liberation group." Erdogan on Monday made no mention of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which the fighters killed about 1,200 people and dragged some 250 hostages back to Gaza. The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the territory’s 2.3 million population.

"Israel will sooner or later pay the price for this genocide, which it has been implementing for a year and which is still continuing," Erdogan wrote. "Just as Hitler was stopped by a joint alliance of humanity, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his killer network will be stopped in the same way."