Israeli airstrike collapses Hezbollah-linked building in Beirut, Lebanon.
NEWS:
An Israeli airstrike collapsed a multi-story building in Ghobeiry, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, on October 22, 2024, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for two buildings in the area.
The video being published with this article shows the strike and collapse directly. People are seen watching from a distance after warnings had been issued. A projectile then hits the building, smoke and debris burst outward, and the structure falls in seconds. The footage shows the building being destroyed, but it does not show people being killed inside the structure.
The strike happened in Dahiyeh, the southern Beirut district strongly associated with Hezbollah. The Israeli military warning said people in and around two buildings should leave because the area was near Hezbollah-linked facilities or interests.
The building had reportedly been evacuated before the main strike. Available reporting on the specific collapse did not report casualties from that building.
Minutes before the main blast, two smaller strikes hit the roof. That sequence matches a warning method Israel has used in previous operations, where smaller munitions are fired before a larger strike to push people away from the target.
The attack occurred near the place where Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah’s media communications chief, had been speaking to reporters. His press conference was cut short after the Israeli evacuation warning was issued. Video from the scene shows journalists and assistants quickly removing microphones and camera equipment while Afif ended the event.
Afif was quoted at the time as saying that the bombing and threats did not scare Hezbollah. The press event ended as crews left the area and the warning was followed by the airstrike.
The Israeli military said at the time that it was targeting Hezbollah assets and parts of the group’s financial system in Lebanon. A day earlier, Israel’s chief of staff said the military had struck close to 30 targets connected to Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution linked to Hezbollah.
Al-Qard al-Hassan is officially registered in Lebanon as a charity and is widely described as a financial institution operating outside the formal banking system. The United States has sanctioned it for its role in Hezbollah’s financial network. Hezbollah has denied that the institution funds its weapons or salaries, and the group has portrayed the strikes as an attack on Lebanese civilians who use its services.
The munition used in the building strike was not officially identified by Israel. Independent weapons researchers who reviewed images from the attack said the bomb appeared to be a 2,000-pound warhead fitted with an Israeli-made SPICE guidance kit. Israel did not confirm the specific weapon.
The strike came during Israel’s wider air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after months of cross-border fire between Israel and the Iran-backed group. Dahiyeh had already been hit repeatedly during that phase of the war, including strikes on buildings Israel said were tied to Hezbollah infrastructure.
The visible facts from the video are clear: a warned and apparently evacuated building in southern Beirut was struck from the air and collapsed. The available material does not prove who was inside the building before evacuation, whether weapons were stored there, or whether the specific site made an effective military contribution beyond the claims made by Israel.
News story written by DarkGore.
