Breaking: Israel’s Deadliest Strike in Central Beirut Stuns Lebanese as They Dig Through Rubble

Rescue teams were sifting through the debris of a collapsed building in central Beirut on Friday morning, following two Israeli airstrikes that struck the Lebanese capital. The attack left at least 22 people dead and dozens injured.

The airstrikes, which were the deadliest in central Beirut in over a year of conflict, targeted two residential buildings in neighborhoods now housing large numbers of displaced people fleeing Israeli bombardments from other parts of Lebanon.

According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV and Israeli media, the strikes were aimed at Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking Hezbollah security official. However, Al-Manar reported that Safa was not present in either of the buildings. The Israeli military declined to comment on these reports.

The strikes on Thursday night occurred as Israel ramped up its offensive against Hezbollah, launching heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and initiating a ground invasion along the border. The escalation follows more than a year of intermittent exchanges of fire between the two sides.

In Beirut’s Burj Abi Haidar neighborhood, civil defense teams and municipal workers were digging through the rubble of a three-story building that was destroyed by the strike. An adjacent building was also heavily damaged.

Ahmad al-Khatib, who was in the damaged building with his wife, Marwa Hamdan, and their 2 ½-year-old daughter, Ayla, recounted the terrifying moment the blast hit. He had just picked up his wife from work, and she was praying when the explosion occurred.

“The world suddenly turned upside down, and everything went dark,” said the 42-year-old, tears streaming down his face. He managed to pull his daughter out from under the debris of a collapsed wall. His wife was thrown against a wall by the force of the explosion, suffering a head injury from a piece of metal. “I looked at her and shouted, ‘Say something!'” he recalled, but she could only respond with moans of pain. She is currently in intensive care at a Beirut hospital, while their daughter sustained minor injuries.

Another resident, Mohammed Tarhani, had sought refuge with his brother in the same neighborhood after escaping airstrikes in southern Lebanon. His children were on the veranda when the explosion occurred. “We rushed out to find the children,” he said. “Where can we go now?”

Civil defense official Walid Hashash stated that no more bodies are expected to be found in the rubble, as there are no missing people. He added that once the rescue operations are complete, a final death toll will be released.