EPAWhen we arrived at the scene of an Israeli airstrike on a building in Alamoun, southwest of the Lebanese capital Beirut, rescue workers had just departed.
It should have been cleared. They found eight bodies, including three children and three women, and transported many injured to hospitals. Some people were in critical condition.
Then several men started shouting on the balcony of the building across the street. I can see your hands. ”
They were pointing to a second-floor balcony, which had been completely destroyed and collapsed onto the collapsed floor below.
A young man climbed a pile of rubble. He arrived at the scene, moved some of the rubble, and held up something that could not be discerned from a distance.
Later I asked him if he had found his hand. He answered: It wasn’t a hand. It was part of the skull. ”
The high-rise building that was hit is located in a residential area.
I heard that most of the locals were internally displaced persons, mainly from the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
These are areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence and has been frequently targeted by Israel during its war with Iranian-backed political and military organizations.
Alamoun is a religiously mixed region and until Wednesday was considered safe as there had been no previous attacks.
The dawn strike came without warning.
“It was around 4 o’clock in the morning. We were asleep. We woke up to a very strong bang. At first there was smoke and we couldn’t see anything,” he said. said a mother of two who lives in the building.
She had taken refuge at her uncle’s house in Alamun after Israel began bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“Israel is striking everywhere. Nowhere is safe anymore,” she added.
EPAAnother woman in her 80s was also rushed to the car.
She also moved to Alamoun from Beirut’s southern suburbs a month ago.
After the strike, she left with the others who were in the building and spent a few hours on the street in their cars.
She was gathering some of her belongings when we saw her. She said she was so scared that she started moving again.
She said she was going to her son’s house this time. He is also evacuated.
When asked about the prospect of an end to hostilities soon, she replied: “The more we talk about a ceasefire, the more Israel will step up its attacks.”
Getty ImagesThe Israeli military has not yet revealed who or what it targeted in Alamun.
However, this strike has similarities to some strikes in other parts of the country, which were launched without warning against homes and residences occupied by displaced people. The Israeli military said many of these attacks targeted Hezbollah infrastructure.
The attacks have increased social unrest within the host communities, with residents saying Israel is targeting people living among the displaced and visiting displaced people, often for the purpose of providing financial aid. They have expressed concern about possible targeting.
“We all love the resistance (Hezbollah), but there are people who have sons who don’t even know if they are in Hezbollah or who are coming to help displaced people and are being targeted. If we do, we will be paying the price,” said a man who owns a house in the affected area and lives there with his wife and children.
He added: “The refugees are coming as guests, and we welcome them. But there is someone here that we don’t know, and whoever it is – it may be my own son, but he is… I don’t know that he’s in Hezbollah – and wouldn’t it be pity if they targeted him and children and women were killed?”
Such comments have become more common in the wake of Israel’s recent series of attacks in various parts of the country outside known war zones.
But at the same time, calls for national unity are growing in Lebanon, with some warning that such attacks by Israel could be deliberately planned to cause social unrest.
