Lebanese emergency and security services carefully remove personal belongings before clearing the debris at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon's Barja town on November 6, 2024. — AFP
Lebanese rescuers diligently searched through the ruins of a destroyed apartment building south of Beirut on Wednesday, looking for any remaining bodies or survivors after a fatal Israeli strike the night before. Meanwhile, the ongoing exchanges of fire between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah continued. Hezbollah claimed to have launched a barrage of missiles at an Israeli military base near Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday. Sirens were heard in northern and central Israel, and Israeli media reported a rocket had landed near the airport. The airports authority stated that operations were proceeding as usual, and Israel's leading airline, El Al, confirmed that none of its planes were damaged by rockets near central Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah, backed by Iran, have been engaged in hostilities for over a year, parallel to the Gaza war. However, the conflict has significantly intensified since late September, with Israeli forces increasing bombings across large areas of southern Lebanon and conducting ground incursions into border villages. The strike on Barja targeted a multi-story apartment building on a hilltop, causing sections of the floors to collapse and exposing inner walls and staircases. Lebanon's health ministry reported just before midnight that the strike had resulted in 20 deaths and 14 injuries, with the possibility of the toll rising.
Lebanese emergency and security services examined the debris at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon's Barja town on November 6, 2024. — AFP
Moussa Zahran, a resident of one of the upper floors of the building, returned on Wednesday morning to sift through the remains of his home. His feet, burned in the incident, were bandaged, and his son and wife were hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the strike. "These rocks you see here weigh 100 kilos; they fell on a 13 kilo kid," he said, referring to his son and the apartment wall that collapsed onto him during the strike. It was unclear if the strike was aimed at a Hezbollah member, and no evacuation warning was issued before the air raid.
On Wednesday, Israel's military conducted strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh after issuing evacuation orders for specific neighborhoods in the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Over the last year, more than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, with the majority of these deaths occurring in the past six weeks. The Barja attack was one of the deadliest single strikes.
Diplomatic efforts to achieve a 60-day truce proposed by the US faltered last week, and Lebanese citizens were concerned that the war could escalate further after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Israel Katz as his new defense minister. Katz pledged on Tuesday to "defeat" Hezbollah, allowing displaced people from northern Israel to return home. Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri — a Hezbollah ally and diplomatic mediator — met with the US and Saudi ambassadors to Lebanon on Wednesday to discuss political developments, according to his office, though no further details were provided.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister congratulated the "president-elect" in the US, without explicitly naming Donald Trump. Netanyahu praised Trump's election, while senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri stated that Trump would be tested on his claims that he can end the Gaza war within hours as president.
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