Beirut reeled overnight after a mᴀssive Israeli airstrike ripped through a Hezbollah stronghold in the city, triggering a huge explosion that tore into a mixed‑use H๏τel block and left at least one apartment floor engulfed in flames, according to Lebanese officials and eyewitnesses.
The strike hit shortly after 1:30 a.m. local time, when jets roared low over the capital’s southern districts. Precision munitions slammed into what the IDF describes as a Hezbollah “operations and logistics hub” built beneath a commercial complex that includes offices, shops and a mid‑range H๏τel catering to business travellers and aid workers.
Security cameras captured the moment a fireball blasted up from the building’s lower levels, blowing out the façade and igniting several upper‑floor apartments. Videos posted online show guests stumbling down smoke‑filled stairwells as flames pour from shattered balconies; one entire side of the H๏τel appears peeled open, with rooms exposed to the night.
Lebanese emergency services report dozens of casualties, including Hezbollah members believed to have been meeting in a basement conference suite, H๏τel staff and residents from neighbouring blocks. Hospitals in west and central Beirut say emergency rooms are overflowing with burn and shrapnel victims.
Israel insists the site was “a core node in Hezbollah’s command and weapons pipeline,” accusing the group of using civilian infrastructure as cover. Beirut’s government calls the strike “indiscriminate and disproportionate,” warning that every new blast deep inside the capital risks dragging Lebanon into a wider war it cannot survive.
