Moments of IDF airstrike in Beirut caught in photos and video

Images include warning shot and missile approaching building before leveling it; military says it hit a Hezbollah weapons depot

  • A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
    A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
  • A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
    A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
  • Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
    Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
  • Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
    Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Associated Press photographer on Tuesday captured the moments of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, which the military said struck a Hezbollah weapons cache.

The Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings before the strikes, as part of steps to mitigate civilian harm. This afforded the press time to wait outside and take footage and images of the blast.

The pictures by AP photographer Bilal Hussein include an initial warning blast on the roof of the building, then clearly show a bomb fired by a fighter jet flying towards and then impacting the building, leveling it.

The IDF also released footage of the strike, which was one of several on Hezbollah weapons depots in Beirut Tuesday.

Earlier at the site, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif was forced to interrupt a press conference after the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation order for residents of the area.

He was filmed as he hastily wrapped up his speech and got up to leave the stage while his assistants removed the microphones. As he left, he was heard saying: “The bombing does not scare us, nor the threats. Our will is firm and our determination is strong.”

Smoke rises from a building following an Israeli warning strike, that came minutes before a bomb brought down the building, in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, October 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People duck down as a missile launched from an Israeli jet hits a building in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

The moments of the strike were also caught on video.

Israel in late September widened the focus of its military operations to Lebanon after over a year of cross-border attacks by Hezbollah-led forces. The terror group says it is attacking the Jewish state in solidarity with Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from Israeli northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, mass invasion and onslaught in southern Israel, due to fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and amid increasing rocket fire by the terror group.

The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 29 civilians. In addition, 45 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

The IDF estimates that around 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.

Most Popular
read more: