Israeli attacks on the center of Beirut, Lebanon, terrify the population: ‘We are exhausted’

Israel bombs Iran and carries out ground operation in Lebanon The Israeli army attacked the center of Beirut this Wednesday (18), leaving 12 people dead, including a leader of a channel linked to Hezbollah, and announced that it intends to destroy the bridges that connect part of southern Lebanon to the rest of the country to stop any support for the pro-Iran group. 📱Download the g1 app to see news in real time and for free Three densely populated neighborhoods in the capital, including one close to the government headquarters, were hit, according to AFP teams. One of the attacks killed the director of political programs at Hezbollah’s broadcaster, Al-Manar. The building where Mohammed Cherri lived, in the Zokak al-Blatt neighborhood, was hit, the channel said in a statement. “He died along with his wife, and his children and grandchildren were injured,” he added. In the Bachoura neighborhood, hit after an Israeli alert, a building completely collapsed, and the street was covered in debris. “It was four in the morning, we were sleeping,” said Sarah Saleh, 29, displaced from the southern outskirts of Beirut and sheltering in a nearby school adapted as a reception center. “We ran out in our pajamas and went to a square in the city center,” he said. READ MORE: VIDEO: entire building collapses in Beirut after being hit by an Israeli missile Lebanon records more than 1 million people displaced in the war between Israel and Hezbollah In Zokak al-Blatt, a building that houses a branch of the financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan, linked to the pro-Iran Hezbollah and already hit last week, was bombed again. In this neighborhood close to the government headquarters and several embassies, residents continue to remove the rubble and broken glass left by the latest attack on cars and in the streets. Machines clear the road and transport the debris, while traders walk around in front of destroyed facades, under the drone of an Israeli drone flying over the capital. Clouds of gray hang in the air, and screams coming from a building, behind a shattered window, warn pedestrians that glass is about to fall. A damaged motorcycle was abandoned near the sidewalk. “My family and I were terrified,” Haidar, 68, told the AFP reporter. “When there is no warning, it is very difficult”, adds the trader. He explained that his wife, overcome by fear, tried to find shelter elsewhere after the neighborhood was hit several times since the start of the war. On the street, a woman cries and a family with children, carrying bags and a pink doll, leaves the place. “We can barely speak (…) We are exhausted,” says Zainab, 65, who lives nearby and was at home with family during the last attack. The bombing “was very strong (…) as if it were happening above our heads”, he says. “We are scared (…) every one or two hours they attack somewhere”, he adds. But “where should we go?” Twelve people died and 41 were injured, according to the Ministry of Health, and “human remains were also found at the scene”. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional war with Iran on March 2 by launching an attack on Israel, which responded with a widespread aerial bombing campaign. Since then, the attacks have killed at least 912 people, including 111 children, according to authorities, and forced more than a million people — more than a sixth of the country’s population — to leave their homes. A building collapses as smoke rises after an Israeli attack in the center of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Hussein Malla/AP “I was forced to leave” In Saïda, the main city in southern Lebanon, an attack that hit a car on Wednesday morning killed two people, including a rescuer, near the seafront where displaced people sleep in their vehicles, according to the ministry. “I had never left my house until now,” said Moustapha Khairallah, a refugee in Saïda. But “they are attacking more and more civilians… I was forced to leave,” added the elderly man, leaning on two canes. This Wednesday, the Israeli Army announced that it intends to attack the bridges over the Litani River, about 30 kilometers north of the border, to disrupt any military support for Hezbollah, whose fighters are facing ground troops in some border villages. The population was advised to evacuate the area south of the river. Also on Wednesday night, an Israeli evacuation order caused panic in the ancient city of Tire, whose ruins are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hundreds of families fled to Saïda, while those who decided to remain concentrated in the city’s old neighborhoods, which are not included in the evacuation order, according to an AFP correspondent on the ground. Israeli aviation also bombed eastern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, according to the official news agency. Four people died in an attack on the city of Baalbek, which is home to a complex of Roman temples also classified by UNESCO, and four others died in the town of Yohmor. Building completely destroyed AFP correspondent in Baalbek saw a two-story residential building in the city center completely destroyed. In parallel with these bombings, the Israeli Army had announced on Monday the start of “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. For its part, the pro-Iran group claimed on Tuesday night to have launched a large wave of attacks against northern Israel. According to Hezbollah, its fighters fired rockets and missiles, described as sophisticated, at about a dozen cities, as well as several Israeli bases, including air and naval installations.

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