Lebanon Searches for Survivors Amid Escalation as Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Enters Deadliest Phase
BEIRUT (AP) — Rescue workers across Lebanon scoured collapsed buildings for survivors Thursday, a day after Israeli airstrikes resulted in the heaviest single-day casualty count since cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah flared anew in early October. The strikes, which hit commercial and residential districts during evening rush hour, have drawn international condemnation and raised fears of a wider regional conflagration.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported at least 203 killed and more than 1,000 wounded in Wednesday’s bombardments. Israel’s military stated it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, but many strikes impacted densely populated civilian areas. Lebanese President Michel Aoun denounced the attacks as “barbaric,” while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Lebanon would file an urgent complaint with the U.N. Security Council, calling the strikes a “blatant violation of international law.”
Israeli operations continued into Thursday, with the military announcing it had killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, described as an aide and nephew to Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem. Hezbollah has not officially commented on the claim.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs and the coastal Ain Mreisseh neighborhood, Civil Defense teams worked overnight. Spokesperson Elie Khairallah confirmed a woman was pulled alive from rubble in Ain Mreisseh, and a man was rescued from a collapsed apartment building. The scenes were grim elsewhere. “They’ve been searching all day,” said Mohammad Chehab, a Syrian from Deir el-Zour, who lost six family members in a destroyed building.
At Beirut’s Makassed Hospital, Dr. Wael Jarrosh described receiving about 70 casualties within 10 minutes of the blasts. “This has destroyed us psychologically,” he said, “but we have to stay prepared.” Patient Rabee Koshok, injured in the Corniche al Mazraa commercial district, recalled, “A big flash of light struck my face… I found someone flying over and landing next to me. He was dead.”
The escalation comes amid a fragile backdrop. Even before the latest round of fighting, Lebanon’s crippled government has grappled with Hezbollah’s entrenched military presence, a divisive issue among the Lebanese populace. Reformist Beirut legislator Melhem Khalaf, surveying rubble-clearing operations, stated, “All the targeted areas are safe residential Lebanese areas. What we are witnessing is a massacre against civilians.” He also criticized Hezbollah for “dragging Lebanon back into war.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed operations would continue “with force, precision and determination.” The Israeli military accuses Hezbollah of embedding operatives within civilian neighborhoods, a charge the group denies.
The human cost continues to climb. The Lebanese Health Ministry reports 1,739 killed and 5,873 wounded since early October. Over one million people are internally displaced, many from southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs (Dahiyeh), following Israeli evacuation warnings. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 have fled into Syria, with the main border crossing reopening Thursday after a five-day closure prompted by Israeli threats.
Regional rhetoric intensified as Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned that continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon would incur “explicit costs and STRONG responses.” He insisted a separate ceasefire in Gaza should extend to Lebanon—a proposal Israel has rejected.
Voices from the Region
Elias Gemayel, 42, Business Owner in Beirut: “Every day we wait for the next explosion. This isn’t a war; it’s the systematic destruction of a country already on its knees. The international community watches as we are buried under our own homes.”
Dr. Layla Hassan, 38, Trauma Surgeon in Tyre: “Our hospitals are beyond capacity. We’re not just treating shrapnel wounds, but severe psychological trauma. The world’s silence is a green light for this slaughter.”
David Cohen, 55, Political Analyst in Tel Aviv: “Hezbollah initiated this round by firing across the Blue Line. Israel’s response, however tragic the civilian toll, is targeting legitimate military assets hidden by Hezbollah in apartments and shops. The responsibility for civilian deaths lies squarely with those using human shields.”
Samira Nawaz, 47, Refugee Aid Worker in Sidon (Emotional/Sharp): “'Human shields'? That’s a cowardly excuse to justify bombing children in their beds! Look at the footage—entire city blocks gone. Netanyahu and Nasrallah are both playing a game of chicken with our lives. They’re war criminals, the lot of them, and the so-called ‘rules-based order’ is a sick joke.”
Reporting by Abou AlJoud in Beirut. AP journalists Kareem Chehayeb and Hussein Malla in Beirut, and Ghaith AlSayed in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, contributed.