The Cradle, October 22, 2024 —Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburb of Beirut and its surrounding areas on the evening of 21 October, also bombing areas not hit before, including the Ouzai neighborhood and a hospital in the Jnah area.
The Israeli army issued evacuation orders for the Laylaki area in the southern suburb of Beirut, as well as Ouzai and other areas in the suburb, on Monday night. Ouzai sits between the southern suburb and central Beirut.
At least five buildings were hit by strikes in Ouzai, marking the first time in this war that the area has been hit.
Israel also struck the vicinity of Rafik Hariri Government Hospital in the Jnah area of Beirut, located outside of the southern suburb.
Four people were killed in the attack, including a child. Thirty-two others were wounded, and the hospital was damaged significantly by the strike.
Israel issued no warnings before launching the deadly attack near the hospital. The Rafik Hariri Hospital is Lebanon’s largest public hospital.
Massive and consecutive airstrikes rocked the southern suburb of Beirut in the hours that followed.
Israeli bombs rained down on Laylaki, Al-Hadath, Tahwitat al-Ghadeer, and elsewhere in the suburb. Massive explosions were seen in pictures and images circulating on social media.
At least 13 raids had been carried out by midnight on Monday. Meanwhile, Israeli raids continued to target the south and east of Lebanon.
The attacks came just one night after Israel unleashed a massive wave of airstrikes across Lebanon, mainly the capital, targeting buildings linked to Hezbollah’s Al-Qard al-Hassan financial institution, which provides interest-free loans to citizens and other services.
As Israel continues its deadly assault against Lebanon, Hezbollah has escalated its operations, launching dozens of heavy rockets toward Haifa and its surroundings on a daily basis. The resistance group vowed that Haifa would become as Kiryat Shmona did in the north in the first days of the war last year, when tens of thousands evacuated Israel’s northern settlements.
Hezbollah struck the Glilot base of Israel’s Military Intelligence Unit 8200 on the outskirts of Tel Aviv on Monday night. It also hit several military sites in the occupied Golan Heights, while continuing to confront and inflict losses on Israeli troops infiltrating southern Lebanon.
Tel Aviv has threatened a severe response to recent Hezbollah attacks. Last weekend, a Hezbollah drone killed at least four soldiers and injured dozens at a military base south of Haifa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea was also hit by a Hezbollah drone on 19 October.
The attack on the hospital comes as Israel starts to threaten medical facilities in Lebanon the way it has in Gaza. The Israeli army claimed on Monday that Hezbollah keeps gold, money, and a secret bunker under the Sahel Hospital in Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb.
