October 2024 Bachoura airstrike | |
---|---|
Part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon | |
Location | Bachoura, Beirut, Lebanon |
Date | 10 October 2024 |
Target | Wafiq Safa |
Attack type | Airstrikes, massacre |
Weapon | US-made JDAM for 2,000-pound bombs |
Deaths | 22+ |
Injured | 117+ |
Perpetrator | Israel Defense Forces |
On 10 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Bachoura in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 22 Lebanese people and injured another 117. The apparent target of the airstrike was Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who reportedly evaded the assassination attempt against him. [1] [2] [3] Israel used US-made JDAM fit for 2,000-pound bombs in the attack. [4] The attack has been the deadliest attack in Beirut since the start of the 2023 Israel–Hezbollah conflict on 8 October 2023. [5]
The airstrike took place in the evening of 10 October 2024. Without warning the locals beforehand, Israel attacked residential buildings in Nweiri and Basta, two densely populated neighborhoods in Bachoura, a small mainly Shia-populated area in central Beirut. According to a neighbour, the four or five story building was "entirely residential". [1] Many residents fled their apartments as flames and smoke rose from two residential blocks. [3] Among those killed was a family of eight who had evacuated from southern Lebanon following the Israeli evacuation orders. [6] At least 22 Lebanese people were killed and another 117 were injured according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. [7]
According to a report by The Guardian, Israel used US-made JDAM guidance kits fit for large "dump bombs" ranging up to 2,000 pounds. The Guardian found remnants of JDAM in the debris of a building that was razed by the strike. Human Rights Watch senior researcher Richard Weir verified the weapons remnant and noted that the pattern, position, and shape of the remnant are consistent with US-made JDAM guidance kit for Mark 80 series munitions. [4] [8]
The IDF apparently targeted senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa, who serves as the head of the liaison of Hezbollah and its coordination unit. Safa evaded the assassination attempt according to three security sources. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah have commented. [1] [6] [9]
Wafiq Safa was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in 2019. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Safa was head of Hezbollah's security apparatus who directly reported to Hassan Nasrallah, and he allegedly "exploited Lebanon’s ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hizballah". [5]
Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024.
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Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
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Wafiq Safa is a Lebanese security official and a senior member of Hezbollah. As head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit since the late 1980s, reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General, Safa heads Hezbollah's security services and manages the group's relationships in Lebanese politics. He is sometimes referred to as the "Minister of Defense" or "Minister of the Interior" of Hezbollah.
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