Deadly Israeli strike has Beirut residents wondering if anywhere in the city is safe

The residential district in central Beirut where the airstrike struck is claustrophobic.

The buildings that still stand around the site of destruction are about seven to eight storeys tall.

This area was packed with people when it was attacked.

Middle East latest: Fear and chaos after deadly Israeli strike

In many ways, it’s surprising the death toll was not even higher than the 22 people who are reported to have been killed so far.

The nearby hospitals are crowded with the injured – many of them seriously.

It’s reported Israel was attempting to assassinate a Hezbollah leader, Wafiq Safa, who is the head of liaison and coordination for the group.

His fate is unclear, although Hezbollah sources have told Sky News that he survived.

Many of the civilians in and around the building did not.

We watched as search and rescuers scoured through the rubble. The chance of finding any survivors is remote.

The building is just a mass of debris. Some of the walls of the buildings nearby have been blown out.

You can look in at the lives destroyed by this explosion. Family portraits still hang on the walls.

We met Ibrahim as he packed up his things to move away from the area.

He’s fearful about what comes next: “What do you want me to tell you? What happened was extremely scary.

“The sound was so loud, the building started to shake as if it was an earthquake. Now we came back to take our stuff and go stay by the seaside.”

The attack on this area is a significant escalation by Israel. It was thought to be relatively safe – away from the Hezbollah stronghold, Dahieh, in southern Beirut.

In fact, many of the families that were here at the time of the airstrikes had fled those areas, hoping to find sanctuary.

The fact they did not has left many people now wondering, is anywhere still safe in the capital?

This article was originally published by Sky.com. Read the original article here.

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