The Lebanese capital bombed again. The official Lebanese agency Ani reported four Israeli raids targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday, after Israeli calls to evacuate several neighborhoods of this Hezbollah stronghold, shelled for several days.
“Enemy warplanes carried out two strikes on the southern suburbs, the first targeting the Sainte-Thérèse district, and the second the Bourj al-Barajneh district,” the agency said. Ani then reported two other Israeli strikes in the suburbs, including one against Hadath, which it described as “violent”. The strike targeting Sainte-Thérèse flattened a building, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP.
An AFP correspondent felt the windows shaking and another heard loud explosions. Live AFP video captured four strikes, two of them causing huge explosions and sending up large sprays of flames, as well as thick clouds of black smoke.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the southern suburbs were hit by more than 30 strikes, Ani said, during one of the most intense nights of bombing, pushing many people from neighboring Beirut neighborhoods to flee.
The southern suburbs of Beirut have been regularly shelled by Israel since the start of its open war against pro-Iranian Hezbollah on September 23, particularly at night. The Israeli army usually issues calls to evacuate in advance.
“Urgent alert to residents of the southern suburbs of Bourj al-Barajneh and Hadath, in Beirut. You are near Hezbollah facilities and interests, and the Israeli army will intervene against them in the near future,” Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee told X on Sunday, urging residents of these areas to be evacuated.
Hezbollah initiated hostilities on the border with Israel from the start of the Israeli offensive against its ally, Palestinian Hamas, in Gaza in October 2023. Many residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut fled to other Lebanese regions since Israel intensified its bombing campaign on September 23.
Twelve people were killed on Sunday in Israeli strikes targeting Kayfoun and Qmatiye, two villages in the mountains overlooking Beirut and its suburbs, according to the Ministry of Health, and which host displaced people. Since October 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in the country, including more than 1,100 since September 23, according to the authorities. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.
Hezbollah strike
In response, Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military base near Haifa in the north of the country for the third time on Sunday, after two explosive drone attacks targeting another base in this area.
In a statement, the pro-Iranian movement said it had “launched a salvo of rockets Fadi 1 on the Carmel base, south of Haifa” and notably dedicated this attack to its leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed at the end of September in an Israeli strike.
