There were at least a dozen Israeli airstrikes reported Saturday in Dahieh, a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital city of Beirut. Some of the strikes were reported near the international airport, which is still offering civilian flights for people trying to flee the city, and some damage was reportedly done to the Bahman Hospital.
There is yet to be a solid accounting of how many people were killed or who they are, but there have been multiple reports of handfuls of civilians having been killed in the area. Rescue attempts appear to still be ongoing, and we may not have a full accounting of the casualties for some time.
Israel’s military claimed after the strikes that they carried out attacks on a weapons storage facility belonging to Hezbollah, and also the Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center. Hezbollah has not confirmed that either was hit.
There were reports that Israel offered warnings before the attacks on Dahieh, though in many cases it was only a few minutes between the warning and the airstrike. They also have ordered evacuation of civilians out of two different neighborhoods in southern Beirut.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has contacted Israeli officials and urged them to substantially scale back attacks on the Beirut area. This was reportedly because the civilian casualties in the area are “far too high.” There is no indication that Israel is contemplating doing so.
Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon last month, and has been conducting an ever-growing number of airstrikes against the entire country since then. Though the strikes started concentrating on southern Lebanon, strikes have grown to include Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and even the northern Christian-majority region.
