August 2024 Nabatieh Attack

Overview

On August 17, 2024, the Israeli Air Force struck a warehouse in the Wadi al-Kfour industrial zone of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, the strike killed at least 11 people, including a woman and her two children, and wounded four others—three Syrians and one Sudanese national, with two of the Syrians in critical condition. All those killed were reported to be Syrian refugees who had been living on the top floor of the warehouse.

Background

The attack occurred amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on October 8, 2023, following Israel's bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7, 2023 attack. Hezbollah had stated it would continue its cross-border skirmishes with Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza until a ceasefire was reached in that conflict.

The Attack

The targeted warehouse was located in an industrial zone that also housed factories producing bricks, metal, and aluminium, as well as a dairy farm. The building additionally served as housing for Syrian refugees, who lived on its top floor. The strike destroyed the warehouse and damaged nearby buildings. The IDF claimed responsibility for the strike, stating it had targeted a Hezbollah weapons storage facility located approximately 12 kilometers from the Israeli border. Witnesses and local residents said the people killed were Syrian refugees, including factory workers residing in nearby housing. The strike was reported as among the deadliest in Lebanon up to that point in the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel since October 2023.

Reactions

The IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, reiterated that the strike's target was a Hezbollah weapons depot and maintained that military assets had been present at the site. Relatives of the victims disputed this, saying there were no weapons at the location and that it was solely an industrial facility. In response to the strike, Hezbollah fired 55 rockets into the Upper Galilee region, targeting Ayelet HaShahar, Safed, and other nearby communities; two Israeli soldiers were injured near Misgav Am, and more than ten fires broke out. The Embassy of the Philippines in Beirut advised its approximately 11,000 citizens in Lebanon to leave the country following the strike.

Status

This case involves a wartime airstrike attributed by the IDF to a military operation against Hezbollah; it is not a criminal case with arrests or prosecutions, and no legal proceedings have been reported.