Amid acrid smoke and desperate cries from residents, rescue workers combed the rubble Tuesday in search of survivors after two Israeli air strikes targeted central Beirut overnight, killing at least 22 people and injuring 117 in what amounts to the deadliest attacks during the recent escalation of violence.
The Shia Basta neighborhood was the worst hit.
One four-storey building had been totally destroyed. Five people could not be accounted for. Head of the Civil Defence rescue team, Youssef Al-Mallah appeals to families to come forth with any information that may help in this search.
Unconfirmed reports claim that one of the strikes was targeting Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit. It reportedly survived. The Israeli authorities have not commented on the incidents; they have also not issued prior warnings, which they have done in other instances.
Both strikes hit residential buildings in the densely populated neighborhoods. The Nweiri strike went into the third floor of an eight-story building; debris cascaded to the streets, damaging cars and storefronts.
In the account of witnesses, the scariest moments of the attacks began. Hassan Jaafar is a 22-year-old security guard who lived near the Basta strike. He recalled a deafening roar followed by a shock wave that knocked him and his friends to the ground. “It felt like the war had expanded into our lives,” he said.
Residents expressed anguish as they comb through the debris, frantically searching for personal belongings and loved ones. A group of women were searching for a missing relative, pleading rescue workers to find one mother who was last seen being carried on a stretcher.
Nweiri site. Civil Defence worker, Musa Araf:
The very first missile came to my house. We were sitting in the apartment and my children were so terrified. As for me, I keep calm, but they were in a frenzy. They were panic-stricken. “One of my grandchildren was cut by flying glass, he said.”.
This is the third time Israel has launched air strikes against Beirut, this time targeting districts outside Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburb of Dahieh. Other strikes have targeted Hezbollah members and affiliated organizations, with attacks against Hezbollah having claimed civilian lives in the past.
In addition, Human Rights Watch has urged the United Nations to investigate attacks by Israelis on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Following reports that Israeli forces attacked a UN observation base after an Israeli military post fired on the station recently, the attack constitutes the fourth incident of its kind within days. Two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured as a result of the attack by Israeli forces.
Hezbollah claimed that it had attacked an Israeli military base in Haifa with explosive-laden drones in retaliation for the air strikes on Beirut, signifying a height of escalations in the conflict.
Rescue missions are still on as people come to terms with the after effects of the strikes, which are a sign of the human price paid for the conflict happening within this region.