Name: Israeli strike demolishes building in central Beirut | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-03-18T16:48:13.000Z
Duration: 4 min 58 s
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Israeli strikes overnight hit the heart of central Beirut, Lebanon's capital, where Israel has been waging a campaign against its neighbor, from where the Iranian backed Hezbollah militia has been launching missiles into northern Israel.

And of course there was a lot of damage done to that building.

The building in central Beirut where the Israelis targeted a number of times over a few days and then after that it was demolished completely A little earlier we were sent this report from Weira Davis from the scene.

A feature of Israeli airstrikes here in Beirut in recent days has been that they're not just targeting those areas of South Beirut regarded as Hezbollah strongholds.

This was a building standing in central Beirut, close to the city centre, the heart of Beirut, and

close to many hotels, including as it happens, hotels where journalists are staying.

We got a warning at about 4:30 this morning that this building was about to be hit.

It has been hit several times in recent days.

At 5 o' clock in the morning there was a huge airstrike.

The building has been completely collapsed.

There are not thought to be any casualties because of the warnings that were given.

But as you can see, this is the extent to which Israel is now prepared to go to go after not just Hezbollah's leaders, but

Tensions are running high across the country now.

A million people have been displaced by this conflict already in Lebanon, here in South Beirut, in the south of the country and also in the eastern Beka Valley.

And more than 800 people, including well over 100 children, have been killed as well.

But Israel says it's determined to defeat Hezbollah as a fighting force.

And that means striking buildings like this.

But it's clearly a war, a conflict that most people in Lebanon simply do not want.

Well, we've also heard from the IDF in the last few minutes that the Israeli military are planning on striking bridges and crossings over the Litany river in southern Lebanon to disrupt what they say are Hezbollah smuggling routes.

Let's cross life to Beirut and speak to our Middle east correspondent, Hugo Bochega.

And also tell me a bit more about that huge explosion overnight.

I know you live very close by to where it happened.

So a lot happening in Lebanon as this has become the second front of the Israeli military in this war.

And this explosion that happened here in Beirut, this attack that targeted this building in the Bashouda district.

I actually live just 10 minutes from the building and I was woken up by the sound of a huge explosion.

The windows in my flat rattled so this gives you an idea of how powerful this explosion was.

For viewers familiar with Beirut, this is not really far Martyr Square, which is the main square in central Beirut, So away from the Dahir, where Hezbollah is based here in Beirut.

And I think what, you know, a lot of people here believe is that these attacks are adding to this feeling of the Lebanese, many Lebanese, who think that nowhere is safe.

I think there is the belief here that this is part of the strategy here to attack facilities, buildings outside those areas considered to be Hezbollah strongholds create this sense of anxiety, uncertainty, and

the sense that nobody really knows where the next attack will happen.

And earlier today, we had this new warning by the Israeli military repeating its order for civilians to leave those areas in the south of the country and a threat to attack crossings over the Litany River.

So this is, you know, a part of the country that's not now been under this huge evacuation order by the Israeli military.

And the fear here is that what the Israelis are planning to do is to force those civilians to leave those dozens of towns and villages in the south, to disconnect this part of the country from the rest of Lebanon's territory.

And that could lead to a wide scale invasion of the country.

Up until now, the Israelis are describing what is happening in the south as a limited, targeted ground operation.

But the fear here is that this could be the beginning of something bigger, of a wide scale invasion of the country.

Now, a million people have already been displaced in Lebanon, and

there are fears that this could lead to a huge humanitarian crisis in this country.