On October 6, 2024, an Israeli strike that targeted the Sfeir neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut left devastation in its wake. A guy strolls through the area. Almost a year after the Gaza War broke out, Israel launched heavy airstrikes against Hezbollah early on October 6, lighting up the night sky with a massive flame and sending plumes of smoke rising over south Beirut.

Israeli strikes were reported on Sunday by official Lebanese media, shortly after Israel’s army ordered inhabitants of the Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut to evacuate after it had been continuously shelled for many days.

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, “enemy warplanes launched two strikes on the southern suburbs, the first targeting the Saint Therese area, and the second targeting the Burj al-Barajneh area.”

After one of the attacks, an AFP correspondent reported that her windows rattled and that she heard tremendous explosions.

Three strikes were seen in AFP live camera footage, one of which resulted in a large explosion with flaming flares shooting out and dense black smoke billowing.

The southern suburbs saw one of the worst barrages of attacks to far on Saturday and Sunday night, with over thirty strikes, according to the NNA.

As a result of the Gaza War, Lebanon’s Hezbollah organisation and Israel, its enemy, have been trading cross-border gunfire almost every day for almost a year.

However, since September 23, Israel has carried out horrific airstrikes on sites in Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of over 1,110 people and the forced evacuating of over a million others.

Last week, Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, in south Beirut, a heavily populated neighbourhood, before the locals fled from Israel’s escalating assault.