Back to world news, the mayor of a major town in south Lebanon was among 16 people killed when an Israeli airstrike destroyed its municipal headquarters in the biggest attack on a Lebanese state building since the Israeli air offensive began.Lebanese officials denounced the incident, which also wounded more than 50 people in Nabatieh, a provincial capital, saying it was proof that Israel’s campaign against the Hezbollah armed group was now shifting to target the Lebanese state.
The top UN humanitarian official accused Israel on Wednesday of blocking the delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza, and the US ambassador demanded that the Israeli government step up efforts to tackle the Palestinian territory’s “intolerable and catastrophic humanitarian crisis”.