Israel says the major attacks that levelled multiple residential buildings in southern Beirut targeted Hezbollah’s ‘central command’.
Israel targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut in a series of attacks on Friday in the heaviest bombardment since it escalated its offensive against Lebanon earlier this month.
More than a dozen explosions were reported in the neighbourhood of Dahiyeh, which had already been targeted by air raids in recent days. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the attacks destroyed at least seven buildings in the Haret Hreik suburb of the neighbourhood, turning them into a pile of rubble. The station said more than 15 missiles struck the area. Civil defence teams are working on putting out multiple fires in the area and asked people to donate blood due to the likelihood of a high number of casualties.
The explosions were heard as far away as Jounieh, a 25-minute drive north of Beirut. “This attack was massive,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr. “I have covered a lot of aftermaths of Israeli airstrikes in these southern suburbs of Beirut but nothing like this.”
Why did Israel attack there?
Israeli military officials said they had targeted the “central headquarters of Hezbollah” built under “residential buildings” in what they called a “precise strike.” They warned that they still had “more work to do” and suggested more attacks were coming.
Israeli media reported that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was at the headquarters that was attacked and that Israel used “bunker-busting” bombs. Sources close to Hezbollah denied the report and said Nasrallah was “in a safe place”.
What about the people in the buildings?
Dahiyeh is a densely populated area, home to more than half a million civilians, many of whom had been scrambling to evacuate to safety as Israel started attacking the area last week. Dozens of people had already been killed in air raids targeting the neighbourhood before Friday.
The neighbourhood was largely destroyed during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of “intentionally” placing its headquarters under residential buildings and of using the Lebanese people “as human shields”. While Hezbollah has its headquarters in the area, Dahiyeh “is a suburb, just like any other suburb in the world”, said Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem.
“Many families were starting to think about leaving, weighing their options, but where?” he said, noting that locations across Lebanon have been targeted by attacks in recent days. “Currently, everything is being hit.”
One resident who lives in the neighbouring Palestinian refugee camp, Bourj el Baraneh, told Al Jazeera the attack shook the entire area and camp residents are now fleeing to other areas.
How many people were hurt?
Early reports indicated at least two people were killed and 76 wounded but the death toll was expected to be far higher.
Was there any warning?
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in a news briefing that Israel did not inform the United States in advance about the attack, but that the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant spoke by phone with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when the attack was already in progress.
The attacks came as reports had emerged in recent days that negotiations for a ceasefire may be under way. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged Israel will continue its attacks.
Speaking at the United Nations in New York City on Friday, just hours before the attacks, he said, “As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely.”
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is also in New York at the UN General Assembly, said in a statement that “the new aggression proves that the Israeli enemy does not care about all international efforts and calls for a ceasefire.”