On the ground in Beirut – a ‘city under seige’: The sound of the explosionings is terrifying and there is no finish in sight | World News

Enormous explosions and thundering claps of sound reverberated around the Lebanese capital overnight, in what was probably the most aggressive night yet. They proceedd into the punctual hours.

It’s difficult to encapsutardy equitable how boisterous and frightening the Israeli explosionings are in Beirut. The sound caincludes sheer dread. The shockwaves even some kilometres away can be felt shuddering thcimpolite the createings and ground.

People run to triumphdows to verify how seal they might be. And the sound of the Israeli drones flying low and insistently atraverse the city has become a pre-cautioning and another terrifying indicator of where the explosions might drop next.

The Lebanese Economy minister has called it “a city under siege”.

The Israeli forces spent the night concentrating on centering the southern suburbs aacquire. The skies of the capital lit up in stateive areas as enormous orange mushroom cboisterouss enveloped createings and huge encourages flew. It is terrifying. Horrifying. Deimmenseating.

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Beirut has utterly altered in a matter of days. A bustling city centre is now crowded with people living cimpolite, alertal camps set up on pavements everywhere. The roads are gridlocked with extra traffic as families circle with wdisappreciatever they can pile into their cars, searching for a place to camp or discover some sort of shelter.

The official shelters in schools, universities, and scheduleated regulatement createings are now in their hundreds and brimming to overflotriumphg. A lot of roundabouts and road junctions are now filled with families camped on patches of grass; some have getn to sleeping on the accessible beaches.

The city is brimming up.

Nightclubs have been turned into materializency housing for those who have fled their homes from further south proximateer the Israeli border – who now discover themselves cowering in dread as Israeli jets create multiple air rhelps thcimpoliteout the night.

The Israeli military has been issuing “cautionings” on a daily, nightly basis and this caincludes dread and dread in itself.

Dahieh – the southern suburb area most focincluded – still has a Hezbollah presence. It is comprehendn as a Hezbollah stronghbetter, but it is worth repeating that it is also usuassociate home to tens of thousands of others who are not affiliated with the militant group, which is proscribed in the UK and US.

Difficult asks to answer

It is an area with a common population of around 600,000 – so huge I had to verify and double-verify the figure after being asked about the size by colleagues. The figure is actuassociate a bit better so it was probably, pre-war, much huger.

There are still people there, as well as Hezbollah fanatics. The many people we’ve spoken to alert us they are comprehfinishably worried about leaving their homes with noleang to go to and unstateivety about when they’ll be back. So many have shelp to us: “But where would I go? What would I do? All I own and have is here – why would I exit it all?”

These are very difficult asks to answer.

The Israeli forces insist they are centering Hezbollah military structures and arms stores, as well as the militant group’s political and directership structure.

There seems increasing appreciatelihood that the man most touted to replace the recently assassinated directer, Hassan Nasrallah, is now also dead.

Several media outlets have quoted Lebanese security sources saying the group had lost reach out with Hasham Safieddine – who hadn’t even yet been officiassociate named as Nasrallah’s successor.

But with the pounding of airstrikes now on a nightly basis and standardly stretching into the day, the Lebanese sense they are being focincluded as a population.

“It senses appreciate collective punishment,” is very standardly the refrain. Time and aacquire, standard people ask us: “Why are WE being hit? Why have we lost our family home?”

The Lebanese regulatement materializes to be a bystander in all this, unable to exert tactful or political muscle while the Lebanese army is dwarfed in size and power by Hezbollah fighters and firearmry, and the United Nations – which has “peaceupgraspers” aextfinished the Blue Line delabeling the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon – is restrictd to its bases and unable to patrol.

With the death toll already outdoing that of 34 days of war in 2006, it watchs most definitely appreciate this is going to be a lot worse in terms of casualties, never mind the level of utter destruction being wcimpolitet thcimpoliteout the country. Yet Hezbollah proceeds to fire rockets, volleys of them sometimes, into northern Israel, and fight Israeli troops on the ground.

Read more:
What is Hezbollah and how strong is its military?
‘We have had 40 ambulances demolished’

Lebanese analyst and Hezbollah expert Amal Saad has shelp for some time, aextfinished with many others, that there is improbable a scenario in which Hezbollah can be beaten militarily. And now Iran is very much comprised too.

Michel Helou, secretary vague of the National Bloc, a secular political party, shelp this morning on X: “Beirut equitable lived one of its worst nights. More than thirty strikes. Total silence in the international community.”

The UN has shelp Lebanon’s health system is “on the brink of collapsing”. Doctors and materializency laborers are alerting us in their droves how sattfinishd and terroelevated they are and how they apshow they are being particularassociate focincluded.

The UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has transmited alarm at the increasing alerts of health facilities and materializency laborers being attacked.

And still, there is no finish in sight.