By Lebanese Civil Defense workers retrieved thirty bodies from the rubble of an apartment building Wednesday following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the central town of Barja, marking one of the deadliest single attacks in Lebanon since the regional conflict began.
The devastating strike hit without warning in an area that had largely avoided targeting during the ongoing conflict. Rescue workers continued searching for potential survivors and additional victims in the collapsed structure, while witnesses described scenes of chaos and desperate rescue efforts.
“Something pulled me hard, and then the explosion happened,” said Moussa Zahran, who survived the attack but whose wife and son were hospitalized with injuries. Zahran described digging through debris in darkness to reach his family members. Another resident, Muhyiddin Al-Qalaaji, learned of the destruction while at work through a frantic call from his wife.
Civil defense official Mostafa Danaj reported that neighbors continue reporting missing persons, suggesting the death toll could rise. The Israeli military has not issued a statement about the strike or its intended target in Barja, a town north of Sidon that had previously seen little military activity.
The attack comes amid broader regional escalation, with Israel launching massive aerial bombardments across Lebanon, including strikes early Thursday near Beirut’s international airport. Hezbollah responded with rocket barrages reaching central Israel and the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, killing a foreign worker near Acre.
The widening conflict occurs against a backdrop of political upheaval in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sparked nationwide protests. The firing, following Trump’s U.S. election victory, removed a key moderate voice in hostage negotiations with Hamas.
Since Hezbollah joined the conflict following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, violence has claimed at least 3,000 Lebanese lives and wounded 13,500, with women and children comprising a quarter of casualties, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Hezbollah’s attacks have killed 73 Israelis, including 30 soldiers.
The escalating regional warfare shows no signs of abating as the Gaza conflict continues, where Palestinian health officials report over 43,000 deaths in Israel’s offensive following Hamas’s attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, roughly 100 of whom remain captive.
The Barja strike represents a significant expansion of the conflict into previously quiet areas of central Lebanon, raising fears of further civilian casualties as the war threatens to engulf new territories.
