Four bodies recovered two weeks after Israeli airstrike on Basta al-Fawqa

BEIRUT — Four bodies were recovered from the rubble of a residential building in Beirut’s Basta al-Fawqa neighborhood on Saturday, two weeks after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike, stated Joseph Bou Chaaya, head of service and operations at the Lebanese Civil Defense.

The attack occurred at 4 a.m. on Nov. 23, when Israeli jets launched at least four missiles at an eight-story residential building on Maamoun Street, reducing it to rubble. On Nov. 24, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that at least 29 people were killed and 67 others wounded in the attack. 

Bou Chaaya told L’Orient Today that the victims were members of a Syrian family, and one body is believed to still be trapped beneath the rubble.

The airstrike happened just days before the Nov. 27 cease-fire took effect in Lebanon. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 4,040 people were killed and more than 16,5000 others injured since the start of the conflict with Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.