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 Says It Will Evacuate Its Citizens from Lebanon by Sea on Wednesday

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
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Türkiye Says It Will Evacuate Its Citizens from Lebanon by Sea on Wednesday

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike at Dahieh Hadath area in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, late 07 October 2024. (EPA)

Turkish navy ships will evacuate Turks who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The two ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of around 2,000 passengers, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary, adding that the ships carrying out the evacuation will also transport humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

A foreign ministry source said that around 2,500 Turkish citizens had applied to be evacuated from Lebanon but that after checks it was determined that a ship capacity of 2,000 would be sufficient.

The naval ships will set off on Tuesday from Türkiye’s eastern Mediterranean province of Mersin, the source said.

Türkiye had previously said it was working with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign nationals via Türkiye.

Hundreds of people of various nationalities arrived in Türkiye from Lebanon last week on a commercial ferry.