The streets of Beirut’s southern suburbs lie eerily silent. Buildings stand battered, windows shattered and entire neighbourhoods deserted as the widening war between the US, Israel and Iran, which began on February 28, spills into Lebanon, turning parts of the Lebanese capital into a ghost town.
In Dahiyeh — a densely populated suburb of Beirut considered a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah — Israeli airstrikes have left a trail of destruction. Entire blocks show signs of recent bombardment, with debris scattered across roads that once bustled with life.
Standing amid the ruins, India Today TV reported from Dahiyeh, a site of one of the latest strikes. A residential building lay heavily damaged after being hit by the Israeli Air Force just hours earlier.
The area had barely begun recovering from the destruction of October and November last year, when Israel carried out heavy bombardment during clashes with Hezbollah before a ceasefire briefly halted the fighting. But with the war between Iran, the US and Israel entering its second week, the suburb has once again become a primary target.
Thousands of residents have fled in large numbers after Israeli forces warned people to evacuate the area. Entire neighbourhoods have emptied almost overnight. People have moved to open fields, shelters and any available safe space outside the bombardment zone.
Even central Beirut has not been spared.
Two days ago, an Israeli strike hit a multi-storey hotel in a posh area of the city. In what appeared to be a highly targeted operation, only one specific apartment inside the building was struck. Two Iranian nationals staying in the apartment were killed in the strike.
The attack reflects Israel’s strategy of targeting individuals linked to Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps across Lebanon.
ISRAELI STRIKES ON LEBANON INTENSIFIES
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have intensified across Lebanon. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, at least 217 people have been killed in Israeli attacks this week, with another 798 wounded. Nearly 95,000 people have been displaced since the escalation began, Al Jazeera reported.
Israeli warplanes have also struck several towns in southern Lebanon, including raids on the port city of Sidon, where five people were killed and seven injured.
The Israeli military says it has conducted at least 26 rounds of strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting what it claims are Hezbollah facilities, including the group’s executive council headquarters and warehouses storing drones.
Hezbollah, however, has vowed retaliation, accusing Israel of attacking Lebanese sovereignty and civilian infrastructure. The group says it has launched multiple attacks against Israeli ground forces operating near the border.
The conflict intensified after Hezbollah entered the war earlier this week by firing rockets toward Israel in support of Iran, prompting Israel to expand its military campaign into Lebanon. Iran has been firing missiles at Israel and the US to avenge the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As the fighting escalates, Beirut’s southern suburbs — once home to nearly half a million people — now stand largely deserted.
Where crowded markets and apartment blocks once defined the cityscape, there is now only rubble, dust and an unsettling silence broken occasionally by the distant rumble of warplanes overhead.
