Members of the Red Cross rescue team watch as an excavator works to clear rubble from the site of a major Israeli strike on the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs two days prior, pictured here on Sept. 22, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The death toll from the major Israeli airstrike on Friday that hit a two-block residential building in the densely populated Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs has risen to 51, with 66 injured and 10 still missing, the Civil Defense announced in a statement on Sunday. Two children were among the latest victims pulled from under the rubble.
The attack, during which the Israeli air force used four missiles, targeted and killed the effective leader of Hezbollah's elite al-Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil, who was holding a meeting with Radwan commanders in the building's underground parking garage. Fifteen other commanders were killed in bombing.
The death toll continues to rise as search and rescue operations move into their third day, with Red Cross and Civil Defense teams present on the ground. The targeted building collapsed upon impact, burying dozens of people under the crumbled building.
The Ministry of Health also announced the beginning of "medico-legal" procedures, using DNA tests to identify some of the bodies extracted from the collapsed building.
Two families — a family of four and a family of five — were among the civilians killed in the bombing, their bodies retrieved on Saturday afternoon, along with several others.
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi and Civil Defense Director General Raymond Khattar are overseeing the rescue efforts, the Civil Defense said on Sunday. "Operations have continued without interruption since the moment of the collapse," the statement reads. "Night-time searches were aided by floodlights, ensuring efforts proceeded around the clock."
Rescue teams have faced significant challenges, including fires that broke out under the rubble in a parking garage beneath the building. "The presence of several layers of concrete has made it difficult to reach the fire's source, spreading smoke and complicating the search," Civil Defense explained.
Hezbollah has not yet officially retaliated for Friday's strike, although on Sunday it announced attacks on northern Israel's Haifa region for the first time since the conflict began. These strikes were in response to the Tuesday and Wednesday detonations of Hezbollah's hand-held communication devices, in an attack attributed to Israel, which also killed civilians and wounded thousands of people across Lebanon.