Destruction on the streets of Lebanon after days of Israeli bombing

Beirut
CNN
—

An eerie calm descended on the Lebanese capital in the hours after Israeli warplanes struck its southern suburbs, the seat of Hezbollah’s power where hundreds of thousands of civilians live.

The Iran-backed group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed Friday in a massive bombing that was the first of nearly 48 hours of uninterrupted airstrikes. With him, and in the attacks that followed, many leading commanders and officials died. Many civilians are also believed to have been killed.

More than 24 hours after Nasrallah’s body was recovered from the deep pit left by the heavy bombs that killed him, no funeral has yet been scheduled for the militant leader – highly unusual in Islamic tradition, where the dead are buried quickly.

The group has yet to appoint a new secretary-general, belying long-term expectations that it would quickly develop a succession plan after Nasrallah’s death.

This has added to the pervasive feeling that Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group that dominated the country’s politics for decades, has quickly become a ghost organization. In one fell swoop, Israel appeared to have removed not only the group’s leadership but perhaps all of its contingency plans as well, providing further evidence of the deep scope of Israeli infiltration within the group’s ranks.

“This is fabricated. There is no evidence that he is dead,” said Hassan, a Hezbollah supporter, leaning on a parked moped, his eyes welling with tears. “He will show up soon and surprise us.”

Abu Mohamad, a middle-aged Shiite transplanted from southern Lebanon to a sidewalk in central Beirut, said: “It doesn’t matter whether he lives or dies, because a leader like Nasrallah always lives within us,” he said. “We will follow the path he has set and return to our homes.”

Nasrallah aroused strong feelings among the Lebanese – he was both respected and reviled in equal measure. But Lebanese on the other side of the divide are reeling from tectonic shifts in the country’s political landscape and the humanitarian devastation it has caused.

Lebanese authorities believe almost 1,100 people have been killed and about 1 million displaced as a result of Israel’s intensified bombing campaign since it began last Monday. Israel says it is in response to Hezbollah rocket attacks that began the day after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 and forced 60,000 people to flee their homes in northern Israel.

In turn, Lebanon’s border villages were emptied of about 100,000 inhabitants by Israeli attacks. Nevertheless, Hezbollah vowed to continue firing rockets on the border until the end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Today, much of the densely populated southern suburbs have been destroyed. Displaced people moved to the relatively wealthy and still untouched western parts of the capital, where they camped on sidewalks, parks, schools, churches and mosques.

Mattresses and blankets for displaced families are located on the Corniche, the city’s seaside promenade, known for its views of the eastern Mediterranean against a backdrop of green mountains.

When Israeli bombs hit the south of the capital on Friday, the streets of western Beirut filled with people all night long. Some of the displaced people were talking on the curb, others were sleeping on the benches. Women cuddled sleeping babies and small children. Children wandered the streets in their pajamas, weaving aimlessly between double-parked cars.

A crowd on Hamra Commercial Street in front of an abandoned building almost brought traffic to a standstill. The man broke down the iron gate, letting in an influx of displaced people seeking shelter.

It was 3 a.m. Nasrallah was only recently assassinated – though his group has not yet confirmed it – and many of his supporters have been trying to put on a brave face.

“We’re fine! I’m sure everything is fine in our house. There’s nothing to worry about,” one woman in her 60s told the group of people around her.

A few days later, the feeling of fear is more palpable. Many displaced people in this country have lost loved ones, but they barely find time to mourn while looking for shelter and food. Those who have not yet been personally affected by the bombing must face the uncharted territory into which the death of Nasrallah and his cadre of senior leaders has pushed the country.

“The murder of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has opened a wound in the heart of the Lebanese people,” said Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, patriarch of the Maronite Church, during Sunday mass.

Rahi has long been one of Hezbollah’s most prominent critics. In January, he indirectly criticized Hezbollah for drawing southern Lebanon into the conflict through cross-border missile and drone attacks on Israel. Hezbollah has repeatedly vowed not to cease fire on its southern border until the Israeli offensive in Gaza ends.

Rahi also condemned “the culture of death that has brought our country nothing but imagined victories and shameful defeats.”

Nasrallah’s main Sunni enemies also condemned the killing. “The murder of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has plunged Lebanon and the region into a new phase of violence. It was a cowardly act that we condemn in every respect,” former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in a post on X.

“We strongly disagreed with the deceased (Nasrallah) and his party and rarely saw each other. However, Lebanon serves as a tent for all, and in these extremely difficult times, our unity and solidarity remain the basis,” Hariri continued.

Lebanon’s complex sectarian power-sharing structure means divisions often spark internal conflict, political paralysis and even violence. However, Israel, technically classified as an “enemy state” in Lebanon, has historically united the divided country, albeit temporarily.

Meanwhile, civilians roaming the streets seeking safety have borne the costs of this new war.
In the central Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut, against the background of a poster with the words “Beirut will not die” in large letters, barefoot children were smeared with black soil and families slept on straw mats. An elderly woman who had fled her neighborhood, leaving behind all her belongings, was selling tissue boxes.

“We sleep on the sidewalks because we have no choice,” said Umm Fawzi from southern Beirut. “I swear we escaped with only the clothes on our backs. There was no living soul left in the area.”

CNN’s Charbel Mallo reported from Beirut.