Lebanon: Beirut wakes up to a “horrific massacre” following Zionist airstrike
BEIRUT – A powerful airstrike shook the Lebanese capital early on Saturday, resulting in the martyrdom of over 11 people and 23 injuries in Central Beirut, according to the health ministry.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey building and caused a large number of fatalities and injuries, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
The National News Agency reported: “Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-storey residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in the Basta area.”
The Zionist forces used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, the agency added. Beirut smelt of explosives hours after the attack, which unfolded at around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
“There was dust and wrecked houses, people running and screaming, they were running, my wife is in hospital, my daughter is in hospital, my aunt is in the hospital,” said an eyewitness, Nemir Zakariya, who held up a picture of his daughter.
“This is the little one, and my son also got hurt—this is my daughter, she is in the American University (of Beirut Medical Centre), this is what happened.”
Earlier, on Friday, the Zionist forces pounded southern Lebanon and the outskirts of Beirut, killing at least five medics.
In Lebanon, 226 health workers and patients have been martyred since the outbreak of the Zionist aggression in October 2023, the WHO said in a new report.
Overall, at least 3,645 Lebanese have been martyred and 15,355 wounded in Zionist attacks since the occupation’s war on Gaza began.
