South Beirut gutted by Israeli bombs

Just a month ago, south Beirut's bustling streets were packed with traffic, families strolling about and youths in cafes, but now silence dominates the abandoned Hezbollah bastion, interrupted only by the sound of Israeli bombs.Escalating Israeli attacks since late September, after nearly a year of low-intensity cross-border exchanges, have reduced much of the Lebanese capital's once densely-packed southern suburbs to rubble and sent many of its residents fleeing.On September 27, days into Israel's intense air campaign on Lebanon, massive Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah's elusive leader Hassan Nasrallah in the heart of the Iran-backed group's south Beirut stronghold, toppling several apartment buildings and spreading fear of even greater violence.Cracks snaked down nearby buildings as torn-off asphalt and burst pipes leaked sewage and tap water.Generators that long made up for daily power cuts after five years of economic crisis had also been blown to bits."About 320 buildings were destroyed in Beirut and its suburbs" in less than a month of war, Mona Fawaz of the Beirut Urban Lab told AFP.The devastation has surpassed the damage caused by Israel's last war with Hezbollah in 2006, said Fawaz, who records cases of "urbicide", the destruction of cities in conflict, focusing now on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.The Burj al-Barajneh neighbourhood, unscathed in 2006, has been heavily damaged in the bombardment this time around.Once again, families from south Beirut are forced to seek refuge elsewhere in the country or abroad.Many live in rented apartments or with relatives, while others are crammed in schools-turned-shelters.Israel struck dozens of south Lebanon villages and towns overnight and targeted Nabatiyeh city for a third time this week, Lebanese state media said Sunday."Warplanes struck... the city of Nabatiyeh seven times" including on an inhabited building, with rescuers still looking for survivors under the rubble, the official National News Agency said.The city where Hezbollah and ally Amal hold sway had seen deadly Israeli strikes on Wednesday that killed its mayor, with bloody attacks last week razing its marketplace.It added that Israeli jets "conducted strikes" on more than 50 towns and villages including the border villages of Kfarshuba, Bint Jbeil and Khiam that have seen heavy fighting, reporting casualties."Israeli troops blew up the Tarrash neighbourhood in Mais al-Jabal," a border village where Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli soldiers, "after booby-trapping it with highly explosive materials," the NNA said.The troops "bulldozed the cemetery in the village of Blida" nearby, the NNA added.Also on Sunday, Israel air strikes targeted several south Beirut neighbourhoods after the Israeli army warned civilians to evacuate the stronghold of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, state media said.Hezbollah fires rockets at three Israeli basesHezbollah on Sunday said it fired rockets at three military bases in northern Israel, hours after Israel said it was stepping up its strikes targeting the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon. The rocket salvos targeted bases near Haifa, Safed and Tiberias, Hezbollah said, after Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops that Israel was "destroying" Hezbollah in south Lebanon.