‘Bang after bang’: Kiwi journalist in Beirut as Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon’s capital

Lebanese Army soldiers gather over the rubble of a levelled buildings as people flight the flames, following Israeli air strikes in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs yesterday. A source close to Hezbollah said the massive Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs flattened six buildings. Photo / Ibrahim AMRO / AFP

A Kiwi journalist in Beirut has described the terrifying moments Israeli air strikes hit the Lebanese capital, killing at least two and injuring 76 as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East.

Former NZME Focus Live presenter Will Trafford had just returned to his hotel room in central Beirut after a day working as a producer for Al Arabiya news channel when the bombardment in the city’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik a few kilometres away began about 6.20pm last night (3.20am today NZT).

“It lasted around 45 seconds and it became pretty clear really quickly that it wasn’t just one of those sonic booms [from distant attacks]. It was just bang after bang after bang, and the building shaking.

“You’re wondering, ‘When’s it going to be my turn?’, because you hear each landing of these barrage of missiles, and you hear the sort of whistling and the howling of them. They’re so close, and the thud when they land, it really feels like an eternity.”

Residents later told Trafford the bombardment was the biggest strike since the Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Several buildings were hit and the death toll could rise, Lebanese officials said.

“People who usually don’t frighten were really afraid this time”, Trafford said.

“You try and get down … but there’s that sort of fatalistic feeling. There’s nothing [you can do] – they level those buildings, those weapons.”

Former NZME Focus Live presenter Will Trafford now works as a news producer for Al Arabiya news channel. He's pictured reporting rom Beirut after the capital of Lebanon last night came under air attack from Israel, who say they're targeting members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Photo / Screengrab from Al Arabiya broadcast

When the attack ended the 36-year-old grabbed his passport, ran down 12 flights of stairs and found himself on the street with “everyone on their phone, desperately trying to check on their families”, but also – after the initial panic – helping each other, with “no anger”.

The attack came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “defeat Hezbollah” in his speech at the UN and was, Israel said, targeted at Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah in an area they say is the Lebanese militant group’s central headquarters.

It was safer where he was staying as there were many other journalists, said Trafford, who arrived in Lebanon three days ago and was now trying to get out of the country for a pre-planned interview in Moscow.

“The Israelis, there’s a lot of signals intelligence and electronic monitoring and, in a way, Westerners are luckier if we’re sticking together in this scenario.

“It’s the locals that are really afraid because, obviously you hear Benjamin Netanyahu say, ’This isn’t against you, the Lebanese people, it’s against Hezbollah’, but Hezbollah are everywhere.

“This isn’t like gangs at home – they don’t wear patches, you can’t identify them. And everyone lives in tower blocks here, so you don’t know if they’re in your building. That’s the scary thing for locals, because they feel powerless.”

Rescuers stand outside a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs last night. Israel carried out air strikes on the south of Lebanon's capital Beirut that it said targeted Hezbollah's headquarters, soon after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting the militant group. Photo / AFP

Israel has recently escalated its campaign against Hezbollah after trading cross-border fire for almost a year, including weaponising Hezbollah members’ pagers and walkie talkies last week to kill dozens and injure 3000.

Air strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon this week also killed nearly 800 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say, and increased the total number of displaced people to 200,000, according to the UN.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last night’s bombardment showed Israel “does not care” about US-led efforts to bring about a ceasefire – rejected by Israel – and the country’s hospitals were unable to cope with the number of casualties from Israeli attacks.

An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told state TV Israel was crossing Tehran’s red lines, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah last night continued almost a year of firing into Israel in solidarity with Palestinian miltiant group Hamas, with air raid alerts in northern Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading cross-border fire for almost a year in the latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East. Last night, Israel launched deadly air strikes on buildings in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, saying they were targeted a Hezbollah. Photo / Ibrahim AMRO / AFP

His time in Lebanon was always intended to be brief, as his employer rotated staff amid the ongoing tensions and potential of a ground invasion by Israel, but he’d “absolutely” return if assigned, Trafford said.

US President Joe Biden this week warned of “all-out war” in the Middle East after Israel’s army chief told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Someone needs to say what’s happening here,” said Trafford, who before joining Saudi-state-owned Al Arabiya two months ago had also worked for NBC, Whakaata Māori and TV3.

“And I’m not saying for a second that both sides don’t have terrible things going on, but I think there’s value here telling the story in the English language, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Former Focus Live presenter Will Trafford pictured in the NZME newsroom on election night in 2020. Trafford, now working for Al Arabiya news channel, has been reporting this week from Beirut as the capital of Lebanon comes under air attack from Israel, who say they are targeting members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Photo / Alex Robertson

Hostilities have been growing across the Middle East since the Hamas-led assault that killed about 1200 people in Israel and led to around 250 more being abducted and taken into Gaza last October.

A military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed more than 41,000 civilians and combatants in Gaza, sparked a humanitarian crisis and led to ongoing international pressure for a ceasefire, including from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.

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