Where Israel killed Nasrallah, silence and destruction remain

Homes are heavily damaged around buildings levelled by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs – Copyright AFP –

An eerie calm on Sunday engulfed the rubble-strewn Beirut site where an Israeli air strike killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, flattening buildings in the Iran-backed group’s stronghold.

An AFP photographer in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital saw a few men silently walking around the massive crater caused by the Friday strike, where plumes of smoke still billowed.

After Hezbollah on Saturday formally announced Nasrallah’s death, there were no longer any rescuers at the site on Sunday.

One man crouched on the edge of the rubble, reading from the Koran while, beside him, his wife wept.

A preliminary toll issued by Lebanon’s health ministry said at least six people were killed in the strike, but that figure is expected to rise, given the massive destruction.

The Israeli military said more than 20 other Hezbollah members were killed.

The deaths confirmed by Hezbollah include its top commander in south Lebanon, Ali Karake. Iran said a senior general from its Revolutionary Guards was also killed.

Elsewhere in southern Beirut, pounded by Israeli strikes over the past week, the normally bustling streets were quiet, AFP journalists said.

Many shops were closed and roads empty.

The charred remains of vehicles and rubble of destroyed buildings lay where Israeli jets had struck.

Thousands of residents of the Hezbollah bastion have left since Friday for parts of Beirut considered safer, with many families spending the night on Beirut’s streets.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that up to a million Lebanese may have been displaced by the intense Israeli strikes since earlier this month in Beirut but also in other parts of the tiny country, including the southern border areas abutting Israel.

“It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened… in Lebanon,” he said on Sunday.