The UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza said the “devastating attack” on municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh “claimed the lives of yet more civilians” and the local authorities were “working to provide relief, with the strike occurring just as a crisis meeting was convening at the municipality”, AFP reports.

In an emailed statement, Riza mourned the deaths of three “members of a relief team with whom the UN and humanitarian partners have been working for more than a year”.

“This is a crucial moment to demand respect for the rules of war,” he said.

The Lebanese Civil Defence said the strikes killed one of its staff members who was at the municipality building with colleagues.

Rescuers said the strikes destroyed a medical facility, with two doctors among the dead.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the main government headquarters in Nabatiyeh was damaged, forcing military personnel to evacuate the facility.