'They want to cause pain', says Lebanese at the site of an Israeli strike in central Beirut

Record ID: 2366755

  • Title: 'They want to cause pain', says Lebanese at the site of an Israeli strike in central Beirut
  • Date: 18th March 2026
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (MARCH 18, 2026) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER CLEARING RUBBLE AT THE SITE OF A BUILDING DESTROYED BY AN ISRAELI STRIKE IN BACHOURA NEIGHBOURHOOD VARIOUS OF RUBBLE, PEOPLE INSPECTING DAMAGE AT STRIKE SITE VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER CLEARING RUBBLE PEOPLE STANDING ON RUBBLE / DEBRIS PEOPLE GATHERING AT STRIKE SITE, FIRE TRUCK DRIVING TRAFFIC NEAR DAMAGED SITE BOY
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: AFTERMATH BEIRUT CRISIS IRAN ISRAEL LEBANON STRIKE
  • Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001514918032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A bulldozer cleared rubble in the Bachoura neighborhood in central Beirut on Wednesday (March 18), after an Israeli strike flattened a building it said was used by Hezbollah.
    Israeli warplanes hit central Beirut in the early hours of Wednesday, destroying apartment buildings in some of the most intense airstrikes on the center of the Lebanese capital for decades, an expansion of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
    Ahead of the Bachoura strike, the Israeli military issued a warning on social media highlighting a building and saying it would act against what it said was a Hezbollah facility. Eyewitness video, verified by Reuters, showed the structure crumbling into dust as it was struck at dawn. Firefighters later clambered over a vast pile of smoking rubble.
    Abu Khalil, who lives in the area, said he had helped people flee nearby homes early that morning after the Israeli warning.
    "It's just an operation to hurt, to terrify people, to terrify children," he told Reuters, insisting there were no military targets nearby.
    No similar warnings were given for strikes that hit apartment buildings in two other central districts, killing 12 people, according to Lebanese authorities. Smoke poured from the balcony of one building as residents swept debris from the street, surrounded by wrecked cars.
    While Israel has been striking Hezbollah‑controlled southern suburbs of Beirut for days, the latest attacks were among the worst to hit central parts of the capital in decades.
    (Production: Khalil Ashawi, Joelle Kozaily)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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