Entire buildings were levelled in Friday’s airstrikes. This building once stood at the city’s Tayyouneh roundabout [Fadel Itani/AFP/Getty]
Israel pummelled areas south of Beirut on Friday, in a week of heavy strikes in the area which coincided with the arrival of a top Iranian adviser to the capital, and as Lebanese officials study a ceasefire proposal.
Beirut’s southern suburbs were bombarded for a fourth consecutive day, particularly Ghobeiry which has seen an uptick in attacks recently. Videos purportedly showed the moment buildings were hit and completely brought down, while Israel struck other neighbourhoods in Burj al-Barajneh.
Scenes of widespread destruction in Ghobeiry were shared online. Many of its residents had stayed put as it was largely spared the attacks on other areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Ghobeiry Mayor Maan al-Khalil told Beirut-based broadcaster Al-Mayadeen earlier Friday that his municipality witnessed around a dozen air raids in less than 48 hours, which echoed throughout the city as plumes of smoke rose above Dahiyeh.
One building was also levelled at the Tayyouneh roundabout, an important intersection which connects different parts of the Lebanese capital.
Some observers in Lebanon say the escalation is Israel’s strategy for maximum pressure on Hezbollah amid ceasefire negotiations.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reportedly received a ceasefire proposal from the US ambassador to Lebanon on Thursday. The draft deal was agreed on by Washington and Israeli officials and stipulates pushing Hezbollah back from the border and monitoring any attempts by the group to rearm.
But a major sticking point which remains is Israel’s insistence to raid Lebanon if it believes Hezbollah is violating the ceasefire deal, something Beirut has outright rejected. Israel’s Kan broadcaster said Hezbollah’s response to the proposal is expected in days.
As the Dahiyeh was rocked by attacks on Friday, Ali Larijani, adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, arrived in Beirut, where he met Berri and Mikati to discuss the ceasefire talks.
“We support any decision taken by the resistance and the government in Lebanon, particularly [UN] Resolution 1701,” Larijani said after meeting Mikati.
It was not clear if he is scheduled to meet with Hezbollah officials too, but it is likely, although most of the group’s senior command structure has been eliminated by Israel in recent months.
A year of cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement spiralled into a full-blown war in September, which in total has resulted in over 3,000 casualties in Lebanon, particularly in Dahiyeh, southern Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa region.
Israel kills civil defence members
The eastern city of Baalbek saw another massacre Thursday night when an Israeli airstrike targeted the civil defence’s regional centre near the city.
At least 12 civil defence personnel were killed when their centre in Douris, just south of the city of Baalbek, was hit. Other reports said 15 were killed.
The strike destroyed the entire building, which had around 20 personnel inside at the time of the attack.
“I swear to God we have nothing,” one agonised civil defence member who survived the attack said, referring to claims by the Israeli military that their targets were Hezbollah weapon depots and other structures belonging to the group.
“All we have now are these martyrs,” he said in a video which went viral.
Hundreds of first responders and rescuers have been killed by Israel in the more than year-long fighting, particularly since September.
Israel continued to launch more strikes Thursday night and into Friday morning across southern Lebanon, which is at the forefront of the war.
Berri’s hometown, Tebnine, was reportedly hit with multiple airstrikes, while earlier attacks also targeted Jwayya, Khiam and other villages.
Hezbollah meanwhile launched rocket barrages into northern Israel, with sirens sounded above the northern port city of Haifa and settlements across the Galilee with some of the missiles landing in Kiryat Ata and Krayot in Haifa’s suburbs.
Hezbollah announced it targeted the Tirat Carmel military base.
