Israeli airstrikes leave massive trail of destruction across Lebanon

A woman ties Lebanese flags on the rubble of a destroyed building in the Lebanese town of Nabatieh on the second day of ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

For more than 60 days, Lebanese have watched stunned as Israeli strikes smashed into buildings, raising giant explosions and palls of smoke in the heart of the capital and other cities.

Now, after a ceasefire was reached this week between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, Lebanese are returning to their homes and viewing the damage.

In Beirut's southern suburbs, an area known as Dahiyeh, entire blocks in some areas are reduced to fields of shattered concrete where high-rise buildings once stood. Associated Press video caught the moment when a screeching rocket smashed into an apartment in Beirut last month, sending out a a plume of fire and sparks.

In the southern city of Tyre, a towering bank of black and white smoke rose from the heart of downtown like a storm front and drifted over the Mediterranean Sea after missiles hit. In the southern village of Flawiyeh, a car was left flipped onto its hood amid a grove of trees from the force of a strike.

Israel launched its intensified campaign of bombardment in Lebanon in late September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and stop its barrages into northern Israel after months of more limited cross-border exchanges between the two sides. Those exchanges started when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas after its attack on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli strikes were heaviest in cities, towns and villages around southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has the strongest presence. But for the first time in years, central Beirut was also regularly shaken by explosions.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese fled their homes during more than a year of fighting – as did tens of thousands of Israelis on their side of the border.