'Children dying in front of me': Horror as Israel hits residential buildings near Beirut hospital

Residents describe brutal scenes after Israeli strike near Rafic Hariri Hospital kills at least 18 and injures dozens

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Neighbours and families watched anxiously on Tuesday morning as rescue workers scoured the rubble of what used to be four residential buildings in Jnah, a suburb of Beirut. Hours earlier, on Monday night, a deadly Israeli air strike hit the area, only metres from Lebanon's largest public hospital, Rafic Hariri, while families were asleep.

A young man, his face covered in dust, followed the search for survivors with immense pain in his eyes, as rescuers drilled through unexcavated rooms. “I know they're in there somewhere,” he said, pointing at a pile of shattered concrete.

His father, two brothers and cousins are missing, among many others. Lebanon's Ministry of Health reported at least 18 people, including a child, were killed in the strike, with 57 injured. The attack left apocalyptic scenes, with once-bustling buildings reduced to ruins and charred cars covered in a sticky layer of dust.

Emergency workers recover a body from the site of an Israeli strike near the Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Beirut on Tuesday. Reuters

The man and his family are Syrian and had lived in the building in Jnah for years. He was staying with other relatives when the attack happened and rushed to the scene late at night. Amid the chaos of diggers working their way through the wreckage, his loved ones remain trapped.

Rescuers reported hearing phones ringing under the debris but the young man’s own calls have gone unanswered. “It's my Sudanese neighbour's phone,” one resident said on hearing a ringtone.

It's a residential area, home to Bangladeshis, Syrians and Lebanese. This is a catastrophe – a crime, a massacre

Jneh resident

The area in Jnah is impoverished, home to minorities and refugees. Residents said the buildings were occupied mainly by Syrian and Sudanese workers. There was no warning from the Israelis of an imminent strike, as is common.

“It's a residential area, home to Bangladeshis, Syrians and Lebanese. This is a catastrophe – a crime, a massacre. I have no words, no more feelings. I've been here for 20 years,” another resident said, contemplating the destruction.

He has been assisting with rescue efforts since Monday. “Do you see that water tank over there on the floor, higher up?” he said, pointing out the concrete skeleton of a building.

“We pulled a man out from there. His wife and son are dead; he remains in the hospital with his other son.”

The Israeli army said it had hit “a Hezbollah terrorist target”, without giving details.

People sift through the rubble of a demolished building after an Israeli strike near Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Beirut. Reuters

Children 'torn to pieces'

Rafic Hariri University Hospital, Beirut's main public medical complex, is not far from schools sheltering families displaced from southern Lebanon and Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of the capital, which have been under constant Israeli bombardment for weeks.

“Children were dying in front of me and there was nothing we could do,” Ola Fahed Eid, another resident told The National, as she showed wounds she sustained on her leg as she tried to help children caught up in the air strike. "The children were praying and asking for God's mercy ... they were torn to pieces in front of my eyes.

“This zone is strictly a residential area, there are people from Sudan, Syria, Bangladesh and India. This is sad because they just came here to work and have nothing to do with all this."

The strike also caused damage to the hospital. Shrapnel cracked part of the exterior and several windows were shattered, leaving glass scattered on the floor inside.

Jihad Saadeh, director of the hospital, told The National the attack had not affected medical operations and many of those injured were treated at the hospital, including women and children.

Saad Al Ahmar, director of the regional civil defence centre in Choueifat, told The National he and his colleagues witnessed significant destruction and casualties on their arrival at work, because “it was the middle of the night and families were still sleeping”.

The site was only one of more than a dozen hit in sustained bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, some strikes affecting previously untouched areas, prompting further waves of displacement within Lebanon's besieged capital.

The series of attacks came hours after the US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein presented a new proposal for a diplomatic solution towards a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Israel has vowed to “degrade” Hezbollah, launching a deadly air campaign on Lebanon, mainly focused on the south, the east and the southern suburbs of Beirut after a year of skirmishes at the border.