Lebanon’s Civil Defense service reported on Wednesday that recovery teams have pulled 30 bodies from the debris of an apartment building in the town of Barja. The casualties followed an Israeli airstrike that hit the residential complex on Tuesday night. Search operations continued through the following day as emergency crews utilized excavators to sift through the wreckage for any remaining survivors or victims still trapped beneath the collapsed structure.
Local reports indicate that the strike was conducted without the issuance of an evacuation warning to the residents. In the aftermath, displaced individuals returned to the site to salvage personal belongings from the damaged sections of the building. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli military had not issued a formal statement regarding the specific operation in Barja, and the intended target of the strike remained unidentified.
The incident in Barja occurred amidst a broader intensification of military activity across Lebanon. In the northeastern region of the country, local officials reported that 38 people were killed and dozens more were wounded on Wednesday during a series of airstrikes. One of these strikes reportedly landed near the UNESCO-listed Roman ruins in Baalbek, though immediate damage to the ancient temple structures could not be confirmed.
According to data from the Lebanese Health Ministry, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has resulted in significant casualties over the past year. As of early November, the ministry recorded at least 3,050 deaths and more than 13,600 injuries. The violence has also prompted a large-scale displacement of civilians, with hundreds of thousands of people crossing the border into Syria to escape the bombardment.
Concurrently, the Israeli military has maintained its campaign in Beirut’s southern suburbs, recently targeting sites near the international airport. While the military has designated such locations as Hezbollah facilities, the airport itself has remained operational. The regional instability follows a period of heightened political tension within Israel, including the recent dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over disagreements regarding military strategy and diplomatic negotiations.
