Chaos and destruction as Israel strikes deep in Lebanon’s valley

At the instrumentality of an ambulance, Samir El Chekieh drives with sirens wailing to the latest Israeli aerial onslaught successful El Karak successful the Bekaa Valley, eastbound Lebanon.

The 32-year-old firefighter and paramedic with the Lebanese Civil Defense Force (CDF) lone got a fewer hours' slumber past night. It is present the mediate of the day and helium inactive hasn’t had breakfast.

Since the escalation of the warfare betwixt Israel and the Shia Muslim Hezbollah, the men and women of the CDF spot small rest, and brace themselves for a wide casualty incidental each day.

This nonfiction contains graphic descriptions

It is starkly antithetic from the past warfare with Israel successful 2006, Samir says. “We didn't person those benignant of aerial strikes. Recently, a occurrence presumption was hit, and a religion successful the south, and our humanitarian colleagues person been killed.”

CDF workers accidental civilians, including women and children, are progressively among the dormant and injured erstwhile they be a telephone out.

The warfare betwixt Israel and Hezbollah is spreading deeper and wider crossed Lebanon.

An aggravated bombing run has broadened acold beyond the country’s confederate borderline villages and the superior Beirut, to towns successful the fertile Bekaa and the historical metropolis of Baalbek, principally Shia areas, wherever Hezbollah was founded. The larboard cities of Sidon and Tyre person besides seen an summation successful attacks.

Israel says it is lone targeting Hezbollah fighters, weapons and infrastructure. Since its run against the militant radical escalated, Israel estimates it has destroyed two-thirds of Hezbollah’s rocket and rocket stockpile.

But Hezbollah is inactive firing rockets regular towards Israel.

The BBC spent 2 weeks with Civil Defense Force crews successful the Bekaa Valley, which stretches eastwards to the borderline with Syria. Permission from Hezbollah was required to sojourn the country of Israeli attacks.

In that time, the fig and frequence of strikes successful the country dramatically increased.

On 28 October, determination were much than 100 Israeli strikes, and successful the past week unsocial 160 radical were killed successful the Bekaa, according to authoritative figures. The Lebanese authorities does not separate betwixt fighters and civilians successful its figures.

Samir and his men get successful the Shia colony of El Karak to find chaos and demolition - the aerial is heavy with fume and dust.

Earlier astatine their presumption successful the adjacent metropolis of Zahle, they had heard a almighty detonation - and from their balcony seen a plume of fume successful the distance. They jumped into their occurrence trucks and ambulances and headed consecutive there.

A pistillate successful chador sits connected the pavement begging to beryllium fto into the smoking ruins of an flat block, but men crushed with her to enactment put. It is excessively dangerous, a 2nd Israeli aerial onslaught could beryllium coming.

The archetypal assemblage they find is of a man, blown crossed the crushed by the explosion.

There are survivors underneath the pancaked floors of the apartments and Samir goes heavy successful the rubble. He is not wearing integrative protective gloves arsenic occurrence is inactive blazing inside, truthful erstwhile helium finds a child, helium tin consciousness shattered bones beneath his fingertips. As helium cautiously retrieves the child, helium realises it is lone fractional a body.

“The archetypal unfortunate I recovered was a child. I don't cognize if it's a miss oregon a boy,” helium tells maine afterwards. “Sorry to explicate that. But it's from the tummy and up - from tummy and down determination is nothing.”

In the past, the CDF unit person received telephone calls telling them to evacuate a tract they are attending. They presume they are from the Israelis. No specified telephone comes connected this day, truthful for an hr Samir and others excavation deeper into the ruin.

Eventually they find a 10-year-old miss alive. She tells the rescuers that her eight-month-old brother, Mohammed, was adjacent to her.

“After that, we started proceeding the screaming of a tiny child,” Samir says.

Through a tiny crevice successful the rubble they spot the trapped boy, trying to determination his legs, his babygrow and a azygous bluish sock disposable to the rescue crew. They painstakingly region the debris astir him and helium is mildly cradled successful Samir’s hands and brought to safety. Mohammed is present being treated successful Iraq for the caput wounded helium suffered, his household says.

The CDF works crossed Lebanon’s sectarian divide. It does not discriminate, says Samir, who is Christian and is the caput of operations astatine the presumption successful Zahle - a predominantly Christian town, dominated by a statue of the Virgin Mary, which rises 54m supra a hilltop.

“We don't inquire the enactment of the victim. We don't inquire if he's black, white. We don't inquire if he's Christian oregon Muslim. We are humanitarians,” Samir says.

The UN estimates that each time successful October astatine slightest 1 kid was killed and 10 were injured successful Israeli attacks. Those losses, combined with those of their colleagues killed successful strikes, are taking their toll connected Samir and his men.

Almost 24 hours aft they near the El Karak site, a 2nd Israeli onslaught brought down the remainder of the flat building.

In the aboriginal evenings, Hezbollah inactive fires rockets from adjacent hillsides, targeting Israel. One salvo of astatine slightest six projectiles causes a brushwood occurrence adjacent Zahle.

In the municipality of Khodor, the Hezbollah emblem is planted connected the ruins of 1 of the galore buildings that person been flattened by Israeli bombs. Children’s toys person been arranged astatine its base. A ample reddish Shia emblem flaps successful the upwind adjacent - it is astir the lone dependable successful the mostly abandoned town.

With a bandaged head, Jawad Hamzeh takes maine done the rubble of his home.

His 3 daughters died successful the attack, including 24-year-old Nada who was pregnant. He holds up different daughter’s instrumentality books, she was studying to beryllium a lawyer.

There were nary militants here, helium says. “Where are the missiles, bash you spot them?” helium asks.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel connected 8 October 2023 successful solidarity with its state Hamas, which had carried retired a devastating onslaught connected Israel the time before. Months of cross-border exchanges followed, and then, successful precocious September this year, Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nassrallah, and followed that with a crushed invasion.

Hezbollah is committed to Israel’s destruction, but it is much than a militant group. It is the astir almighty governmental unit successful Lebanon and a societal question which serves arsenic a bulwark for Lebanon’s long-discriminated Shia communities against different sects successful the country.

Tens of thousands of Israelis person been displaced by the year-long war. By attacking Hezbollah connected aggregate fronts, Israel hopes to degrade the radical and fto its radical instrumentality home.

Despite US-led ceasefire talks, neither broadside appears consenting to backmost down.

On 30 October, the Israeli subject issued an evacuation bid successful the Bekaa metropolis of Baalbek, which the UN described arsenic the “largest forced question Lebanon has experienced successful a azygous day” since the commencement of the conflict. As galore arsenic 150,000 radical were fixed lone hours to fly different Israeli assault.

There, not acold from the magnificent Roman ruins with its towering temple of Bacchus, I met Hussein Nassereldine, 42, whose location had been destroyed successful an Israeli onslaught the nighttime before.

“No violent oregon atrocious idiosyncratic lived here,” helium says. “All who lived present were decent people.” He says it was location to families who had fled Beirut successful 1982 during the country’s civilian war, including his own. “We were calved present and lived here, and we volition enactment and won’t permission here,” helium says.

As I leave, men with pickaxes and shovels are making dilatory advancement successful the rubble and Hussein prepares to erect a structure connected what was near of his home.

Outside the city, astatine the Dar Al Amal hospital, the injured are recovering from Baalbek’s deadliest day. Of the 63 radical killed, 2 thirds of those were women and children according to the section governor. Israel says it struck 110 Hezbollah-linked targets.

In a bare room, filled lone with screams, three-year-old Selin’s tiny manus reaches retired for comfort. But determination is no-one there. She has burns to her face, a fractured limb and wounds to her groin and side. Her mother, father, 2 sisters and member were each killed successful the Israeli aerial onslaught that near her breached and alone.

Across the corridor of the intensive attraction unit, two-year-old Kayan Smeha has a fractured skull. His mother, Najat, 24, kisses him mildly connected his feature and cradles him to quieten him.

“He is inactive panicking,” she tells me. “And helium is astir apt re-running the country arsenic I americium doing. I tin grip it, but helium is small, helium can’t.”

Tears rotation down her cheek, but she is defiant.

“I’m crying due to the fact that I americium acrophobic for my baby. But if they deliberation they tin interruption america they are mistaken. If I had to, I volition sacrifice my lad and my husband, my father, my mother, my sister,” Najat says.

“Death of loved ones is hard but not harder than getting humiliated. And we volition clasp connected to our religion and to our traditions till death.”

At the tiny CDF presumption successful the colony of Ferzoul, betwixt orchards and vineyards, the Sun comes up aft a acold night. The seasonal somesthesia is dropping present and astir of Lebanon’s shelters for the displaced are full.

Samir arrives and I inquire him however helium copes with what helium has seen.

“Some of the pictures are stuck successful our head,” helium says, adding that they volition ne'er spell away.

He leans heavy connected his faith.

“When you negociate to support 1 [person] alive, that volition springiness you the spot to support going,” helium says.

“And this is simply a powerfulness that’s fixed from God and we're going to inactive bash our job. Even if we were straight targeted, we accidental present successful Lebanon, God volition support america harmless and we person religion successful God and helium volition support america safe.”