Israeli strikes batter Beirut in heaviest bombardment so far, witnesses say

Smoke rises from shops, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon, October 6, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer Purchase Licensing Rights

Published October 6, 2024

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Israeli air attacks battered Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight and early on Sunday, the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month.

During the night, the blasts sent booms across Beirut and sparked flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

It was the single biggest attack of Israel’s assault on Beirut so far, witnesses and military analysts on local TV channels said.

On Sunday a grey haze hung over the city and rubble was strewn across streets in the southern suburbs, while smoke columns rose over the area.

“Last night was the most violence of all the previous nights. Buildings were shaking around us and at first I thought it was an earthquake. There were dozens of strikes – we couldn’t count them all – and the sounds were deafening,” said Hanan Abdullah, a resident of the Burj al-Barajneh area in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Videos posted on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed fresh damage to the highway that runs from Beirut airport through its southern suburbs into downtown.

Israel said its air force had “conducted a series of targeted strikes on a number of weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure sites belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beirut”.

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SOURCE: www.reuters.com

RELATED: Heavy strikes shake Beirut as Israel expands Lebanon campaign

The Israeli assault has also killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, Lebanese officials say, and forced 1.2 million people – almost a quarter of the population – from their homes.

Journalists document the damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Oct 6, 2024. (Photo: AP/Bilal Hussein)

Published October 6, 2024

BEIRUT: Massive consecutive strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Sunday (Oct 6), Reuters eyewitnesses said, sending booms across the Lebanese capital and sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

The Israeli military said that before the strike, it took steps “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including advancing warnings to the population in the area”.

For days Israel has bombed Beirut suburbs considered strongholds for the Iran-backed armed group, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and possibly his potential successor.

A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor, had been out of contact since Friday, after an Israeli air strike near the city’s international airport that was reported to have targeted him.

The Israeli military said it eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut on Sep 27. Hezbollah confirmed he had been killed.

Lebanese security sources said Israeli strikes since Friday on Dahiyeh, a residential area and Hezbollah stronghold south of central Beirut, have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of Thursday night’s attack.