Violent bomb blasts shake Beirut suburbs – DW – 10/06/2024

This Sunday morning (10/06/2024), Israel bombed more than thirty different points in the Beirut suburb of Dahai, its “most violent” night in years, reports the Lebanese National News Agency (ANN). On the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli soil, which sparked the armed conflict in Gaza.

ANN indicated, “Beirut’s southern suburbs recorded their most violent night since the beginning of the aggression, being the target of more than 30 attacks, echoes of which were heard throughout Beirut and whose black smoke covered all suburban areas. ” The bombings included at least five different residential neighborhoods in Dahaye, as well as a gas station located on the road that connects the capital to Rafic Hariri International Airport, the country’s only operational airport.

The Israeli military confirmed launching a series of night strikes around the city, where it claimed to have targeted “ammunition warehouses and other terrorist infrastructure”. Over the past week, its warplanes and drones have daily bombed Dahiye, a key stronghold of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which had been largely free from attacks during almost the entire conflict that began between the parties in October 2023.

“It felt like an earthquake.”

A correspondent for the French agency AFP saw dozens of people fleeing the Sabra neighborhood on foot or on motorcycles, as the sound of explosions echoed behind them. Mehdi Zaiter, 60, said that “there were bombings everywhere. They had no military purpose, only civilian buildings and private properties,” he condemned. He said, “It was the most violent night ever. There were so many bomb explosions that it felt as if there was an earthquake.”

The bombing continued into Sunday morning, while excavators removed debris from the old airport road. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported 23 deaths, in addition to 95 injured in the previous day’s attacks. More than a thousand people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, when Israeli attacks intensified, according to officials.

DZC (EFE, AFP)