Smoke rises above Beirut’s southern suburbs during an Israeli military offensive on September 27, 2024. A source close to Hezbollah said six buildings were destroyed in a major Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
– | AFP | Getty Images
The Israeli military announced on Friday that it had attacked Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut. There, a series of massive explosions destroyed several buildings and sent orange and black smoke into the sky, making it the biggest explosion to hit the Lebanese capital in a year. At least two people were killed and dozens injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
Three major Israeli television stations reported that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of an attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The unsourced report could not immediately be confirmed by The Associated Press, and the military declined to comment. However, given the size and timing of the explosion, there were strong indications that senior leaders may have been inside the bombed building.
In a further sign of the significance of the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short his visit to the United States and will not wait until after the Sabbath on Saturday evening to return home, his office announced. Hours earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations and vowed that Israel’s operations against Hezbollah would continue, further dampening hopes for an internationally-backed ceasefire.
News of the explosion came as Prime Minister Netanyahu was briefing his accompanying reporters. A military aide overheard, and Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly ended the press conference.
To an extent not seen in past conflicts, Israel has sought to remove Hezbollah’s senior leadership over the past week. Following the latest information, Defense Minister Yoav Galant’s office said he had gathered with the Israeli Air Force commander and other top commanders at military headquarters.
People and a fire truck rush to the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the Haret Lake area on the southern outskirts of Beirut on September 27, 2024.
Ibrahim Amro | AFP | Getty Images
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said the airstrike targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in the basement of a residential building. According to Lebanese state news agency, six buildings in Dahieh’s Haret Lake area were reduced to rubble. The explosion rattled windows and shook houses about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut. An ambulance was seen heading to the scene with its siren blaring.
Officials at a nearby hospital said they had admitted at least 10 injured people, three of whom were in critical condition, including a Syrian child.
The Pentagon said Friday that the United States had no advance warning of a major attack in Beirut.
Israel dramatically stepped up its airstrikes in Lebanon this week, expressing its determination to end more than 11 months of Hezbollah shelling on its territory. The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials say a ground invasion to push the militants from the border is possible. Israel is moving thousands of troops toward the border in preparation.
Health Minister Firas Abiad said at least 25 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike early Friday morning, bringing Lebanon’s death toll this week to more than 720. It said the dead also included dozens of women and children.
A pre-dawn strike on Friday hit a house in the Sunni-majority border town of Chebaa, killing nine members of the same family, the state news agency said. Residents identified the deceased as Hussein Zahra, his wife Latiba, their five children and two grandchildren.
Rescue workers run through the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the Haret Lake neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut on September 27, 2024.
Ibrahim Amro | AFP | Getty Images
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed at the United Nations to “continue to undermine Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals.
Netanyahu’s comments dampened hopes for a US-backed call for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to this proposal.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest military, began firing rockets at Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians. Since then, Israel and the Israeli military have engaged in near-daily firefights, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
Israeli security officials said they expected a potential war with Hezbollah would not last as long as the current war in Gaza because the Israeli military’s goals are much narrower.
In Gaza, Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas’s military and political system, but in Lebanon its only goal is to expel Hezbollah from the border with Israel, and in terms of operational goals it is “not as high a hurdle as in Gaza.” ” said the official. , spoke on condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines.
The Israeli military said Friday it carried out dozens of attacks over two hours around the south, including the cities of Sidon and Nabatiyeh. It said it was targeting Hezbollah’s rocket launchers and infrastructure. Hezbollah has announced that it has fired a volley of rockets into the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.
In the southern Lebanese city of Tire, civil defense workers pulled the bodies of two women, 35-year-old Hiba Ataya and her mother Saba Oryan, from the rubble of a building destroyed in the strike. “That’s Saba, these are her clothes, my love,” one man shouted as her body emerged.
Rescue workers battle a fire among the smoldering rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the Haret Lake neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut on September 27, 2024.
Ibrahim Amro | AFP | Getty Images
Israel says the attacks, which accelerated this week, have already significantly damaged Hezbollah’s weapons capabilities and that a series of top commanders have been assassinated in the attacks. Officials suggested that the limited launches of missiles and rockets last week signaled a setback in the plan.
However, the group boasts a large arsenal of rockets and missiles, and its remaining capabilities remain unknown.
Hezbollah leaders and their supporters remain defiant. On Friday evening, shortly before the explosion, thousands of people gathered in another area on the outskirts of Beirut to kill three Hezbollah members killed in an earlier airstrike, including Mohammed Suroor, head of the group’s drone unit. A funeral was held.
Men and women in the huge crowd raised their fists in the air and chanted “we will never accept humiliation” as they marched behind three coffins wrapped in the group’s yellow flag.
Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah’s top official in Beirut, said in a speech that no matter how many commanders Israel kills, the group has countless experienced fighters deployed across front lines. Ta. Fadlallah vowed that Hezbollah will continue fighting until Israel stops its attacks in Gaza.
“We will not abandon our support for Palestine, Jerusalem and the oppressed Gaza Strip,” Fadlallah said. “There is no room for neutrality in this battle.”
