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‘People don’t understand why this is happening’
The feeling here is Israel isn’t just fighting Hezbollah, it’s fighting the Lebanese population. Dahiyeh, home to about 700,000 people, has been heavily affected. Many believe these so-called “targeted strikes” are not precise.
People we spoke to in Dahiyeh on Thursday said Israel clearly shows no regard for civilian life in its efforts to “eliminate” Hezbollah members, despite the rising casualty figures.
People here are very angry at the actions of the Israeli army and government. They say this is now a full-scale war with tens of thousands of displaced people having lost their livelihoods. People don’t understand why this is happening or what the real purpose is.
Israel ‘does not care’ about calls for a ceasefire: PM
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says Israel’s attacks on Beirut’s southern suburb show it “does not care” about efforts to bring about a ceasefire.
Mikati’s press office sent a statement while he was in New York for the UN General Assembly where the US and other countries made a call for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel’s latest attacks on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh destroyed four buildings in the Haret Hreik district. Rescuers are trying to evacuate the wounded to hospitals. Civil defence teams are working to put out multiple fires in the area.
A fire burns at the site of a series of Israeli air raids in Beirut’s southern suburb
New ‘bunker buster’ bombs used in Beirut attack
Elijah Magnier, a military analyst, says the ordnance used by Israel in its latest attack on Beirut is a “very new type of bomb” – the GBU-72. The weapon is “an advanced 5,000-pound [2,200kg] bunker buster that was created in 2021”, Magnier told Al Jazeera.
The bomb has not been used in the past for the “same objective”, he said, suggesting Israel wanted to “confirm the kill and wanted to make sure nobody is going to be alive”.
It was dropped with a fraction of delay, which allowed the bomb to reach the bunker under the ground and bring down entire structures, Maginer explained.
“We’re talking about four to six buildings, that is several bombs of this calibre used against one target. It means it was a very high, valuable target – as the Israelis believe it was.”
Two killed, 76 wounded in southern Beirut attack
In an initial toll, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says two people were killed and 76 others wounded in Israel’s attacks on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
Israel’s latest attacks on the Haret Hreik district destroyed six buildings, turning them into rubble. Rescue workers, backed by excavators, are still trying to evacuate survivors from the scene.
The air raids, heard across the Mediterranean city, sent huge clouds of smoke soaring above its southern suburban neighbourhoods.
Two bodies found so far. The actual death toll from six buildings destroyed is going to be horrendous :(
