On the ground in Beirut – a ‘city under siege’: The sound of the bombings is terrifying and there is no end in sight

Published

8 months ago

October 6, 2024

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Enormous explosions and thundering claps of sound reverberated around the Lebanese capital overnight, in what was probably the most violent night yet. They continued into the early hours.

It’s hard to encapsulate just how loud and frightening the Israeli bombings are in Beirut. The sound causes sheer terror. The shockwaves even some kilometres away can be felt shuddering through the buildings and ground.

People run to windows to check how close they might be. And the sound of the Israeli drones flying low and insistently across the city has become a pre-warning and another terrifying indicator of where the bombs might fall next.

The Lebanese Economy minister has called it “a city under siege”.

The Israeli forces spent the night concentrating on targeting the southern suburbs again. The skies of the capital lit up in certain areas as enormous orange mushroom clouds enveloped buildings and huge sparks flew. It is terrifying. Horrifying. Devastating.

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Beirut has utterly transformed in a matter of days. A bustling city centre is now crowded with people living rough, informal camps set up on pavements everywhere. The roads are gridlocked with extra traffic as families circle with whatever they can pile into their cars, searching for a place to camp or find some sort of shelter.

The official shelters in schools, universities, and designated government buildings are now in their hundreds and full to overflowing. A lot of roundabouts and road junctions are now filled with families camped on patches of grass; some have taken to sleeping on the public beaches.

The city is full up.

Nightclubs have been turned into emergency housing for those who have fled their homes from further south nearer the Israeli border – who now find themselves cowering in terror as Israeli jets make multiple air raids throughout the night.

The Israeli military has been issuing “warnings” on a daily, nightly basis and this causes fear and terror in itself.

Dahieh – the southern suburb area most targeted – still has a Hezbollah presence. It is known as a Hezbollah stronghold, but it is worth repeating that it is also usually home to tens of thousands of others who are not affiliated with the militant group, which is proscribed in the UK and US.

Difficult questions to answer

It is an area with a usual population of around 600,000 – so big I had to check and double-check the figure after being questioned about the size by colleagues. The figure is actually a bit old so it was probably, pre-war, much larger.

There are still people there, as well as Hezbollah fanatics. The many people we’ve spoken to tell us they are understandably nervous about leaving their homes with nothing to go to and uncertainty about when they’ll be back. So many have said to us: “But where would I go? What would I do? All I own and have is here – why would I leave it all?”

These are very difficult questions to answer.

The Israeli forces insist they are targeting Hezbollah military structures and weapons stores, as well as the militant group’s political and leadership structure.

There seems increasing likelihood that the man most touted to replace the recently assassinated leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is now also dead.

Several media outlets have quoted Lebanese security sources saying the group had lost contact with Hasham Safieddine – who hadn’t even yet been officially named as Nasrallah’s successor.

But with the pounding of airstrikes now on a nightly basis and often stretching into the day, the Lebanese feel they are being targeted as a population.

“It feels like collective punishment,” is very often the refrain. Time and again, ordinary people ask us: “Why are WE being hit? Why have we lost our family home?”

The Lebanese government appears to be a bystander in all this, unable to exert diplomatic or political muscle while the Lebanese army is dwarfed in size and power by Hezbollah fighters and weaponry, and the United Nations – which has “peacekeepers” along the Blue Line demarking the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon – is confined to its bases and unable to patrol.

With the death toll already surpassing that of 34 days of war in 2006, it looks most definitely like this is going to be a lot worse in terms of casualties, never mind the level of utter destruction being wrought throughout the country. Yet Hezbollah continues to fire rockets, volleys of them sometimes, into northern Israel, and fight Israeli troops on the ground.

Lebanese analyst and Hezbollah expert Amal Saad has said for some time, along with many others, that there is unlikely a scenario in which Hezbollah can be beaten militarily. And now Iran is very much involved too.

Michel Helou, secretary general of the National Bloc, a secular political party, said this morning on X: “Beirut just lived one of its worst nights. More than thirty strikes. Total silence in the international community.”

The UN has said Lebanon’s health system is “on the brink of collapsing”. Doctors and emergency workers are telling us in their droves how scared and terrorised they are and how they believe they are being specifically targeted.

The UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has expressed alarm at the increasing reports of health facilities and emergency workers being attacked.

And still, there is no end in sight.

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Iran’s response to Israeli strikes a ‘matter of principle’, ambassador to UK says

Published

19 hours ago

June 15, 2025

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Iran's response to Israeli strikes a 'matter of principle', ambassador to UK says

Iran’s response to Israeli attacks on its nuclear facilities is “self-defence” and a “matter of principle”, the Iranian ambassador to the UK has told Sky News.

Speaking exclusively to The World With Yalda Hakim, Seyed Ali Mousavi said the “barbaric Israeli regime” is “violating international law” – describing Israel’s actions in recent days as “an act of aggression against the Iranian people”.

The conflict between Israel and Iran – once played out in a series of proxy wars – has escalated in the past three days.

Follow Israel-Iran conflict live

On Friday morning, explosions hit Tehran as Israel carried out a major attack on its top army leaders, nuclear sites, and nuclear scientists.

Iran threatened “severe punishment” and quickly retaliated with a wave of missiles.

When questioned about whether Iran could continue fighting Israel, the Iranian ambassador told Yalda Hakim that “it is a matter of principle”.

He said: “This is about self-defence, there is no doubt about it.

“We are a responsible member state of the UN and we do all activities according to our international obligations.

“Any activities are only in the framework of self-defence.”

He added that his country would “do our best to preserve our territorial integrity”, and that “with the help of God”, Iran will “materialise endeavours concretely against our enemy – the Israeli regime”.

Mr Mousavi also told Hakim that Iran’s nuclear activities are “monitored”, and that recent comments by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were “politically motivated”.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors found Iran was not complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years.

Iran said it has “always adhered” to the safeguarding obligations laid down by the watchdog.

Announcing Operation Rising Lion on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran had recently taken steps to weaponise enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons.

But Mr Mousavi stressed that Iran’s “peaceful activities” at its “nuclear fields” were only for the “generation of electricity, and other peaceful” things.

Iran was due to continue its round of negotiations with the US in Muscat – however, this was cancelled, given recent tensions.

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UK government advises against all travel to Israel

Published

1 day ago

June 15, 2025

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UK government advises against all travel to Israel

The government is warning people not to travel to Israel under any circumstances, as the country’s missile exchange with Iran shows no sign of abating.

On Friday, the Foreign Office warned against “all but essential travel” to most of Israel.

The areas around Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights were already classed as red zones, with warnings to avoid travel to these areas.

But the government has now updated the warning for the remainder of the country to red.

Follow live: Tehran and Israel exchange strikes

This puts Israel on the same level as Iran, and the change of advice is also likely to impact travel insurance.

However, with Israel’s airspace closed, it is unlikely many people will be attempting the journey, and Israel’s national airline El Al has announced it is cancelling flights to and from many European cities, as well as Tokyo and Moscow, until 23 June.

The change in travel advice comes after a second night of ballistic missile barrages from Iran following Israel’s attack in the early hours of Friday morning.

On Sunday morning, Israel’s health ministry said 12 people had been killed over the past day, taking the total since Friday to 15. It also said 385 people had arrived at hospital with injuries overnight.

Iran has not provided a total number of deaths or overall casualties, but has claimed dozens have been killed.

Iran’s health minister has said most of those injured and killed in Israeli strikes were civilians. According to comments carried by news agency IRNA, he said the majority were women and children.

What is the UK doing?

The UK government is sending military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East.

While the prime minister would not confirm to reporters that UK forces could be used to defend Israel from future Iranian attacks, the chancellor told Sky News earlier that the government is “not ruling anything out”.

Speaking to Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Rachel Reeves said sending military assets to the Middle East “does not mean that we are at war”, and emphasised that “we have not been involved in these strikes or this conflict”.

“But we do have important assets in the region,” she continued. “And it is right that we send jets to protect them. And that’s what we’ve done. It’s a precautionary move, and at the same time, we are urging de-escalation.”

Pushed on the question of what the UK would do if Israel asked for support with its operations, the chancellor replied: “I’m not going to rule anything out at this stage. It’s a fast-moving situation, a very volatile situation. But we don’t want to see escalation.”

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Helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims crashes in India, killing seven people

Published

1 day ago

June 15, 2025

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Helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims crashes in India, killing seven people

A helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims has crashed in India, killing seven people on board.

The accident happened within minutes of the helicopter taking off, officials said, on what should have been a 10-minute flight.

The helicopter was flying to Guptkashi, a prominent Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayas, from Kedarnath temple town in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.

It comes three days after an Air India flight crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in northwestern India, killing at least 270 people.

The helicopter, which was operated by private helicopter service Aryan Aviation, went down in a forested area several miles from the Kedarnath pilgrimage route at around 5.30am local time.

Officials said the crash was believed to have been caused by poor weather conditions.

Authorities say they have launched a search and rescue operation and are expected to review operational protocols for flights in the region.

The dead include the pilot and pilgrims from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh and western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, according to officials. The bodies were badly burned in a fire that followed the crash, they said.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims visit Kedarnath, which is home to one of the four most sacred Hindu temple shrines, each summer. Many use helicopter services due to the difficult mountainous terrain.

Helicopter mishaps are not uncommon in the region, where sudden weather changes and high-altitude flying conditions can pose risks.

Earlier this month, a helicopter operating in the Kedarnath Valley made an emergency landing shortly after taking off on a highway due to a technical fault. The pilot was injured but all five passengers on board were unharmed.

In May, a helicopter crashed in Uttarkashi district, killing six people, including the pilot. One person survived.