On Saturday night, Israeli airstrikes unleashed the most intense bombardment since the beginning of the current offensive on Beirut’s southern suburbs, igniting massive fires and explosions that could be heard and felt across Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The airstrikes triggered a series of violent blasts, lighting up the skies and sending shockwaves through the city.

Hours after an earlier strike on a residential building in Jiyyeh, Israeli warplanes returned to the southern suburbs with renewed intensity, creating what witnesses described as a "fiery ring" above the targeted areas. The strikes caused enormous explosions that echoed through the night, their rumblings reaching distant neighborhoods.

Residents in Choueifat captured footage of a massive fireball rising from one of the strike sites, while flames could be seen along the airport road, as Israel’s warplanes continued their relentless assault on multiple locations in the southern suburbs.

Despite the intensity of the bombardment, air traffic continued at Beirut’s Airport, even as flames and explosions erupted from a building near the airport road that had been hit.

The series of strikes left a trail of destruction in their wake, with fires breaking out in various areas, including the airport road, Ghobeiry, the American Neighborhood, Sfeir, Choueifat, and Amrousieh. Reports suggested that the explosions along the airport road were caused by the targeting of a medical supplies warehouse, which contained large quantities of oxygen canisters. The presence of oxygen is believed to have fueled the flames, causing the subsequent massive explosions. Other reports indicated that the site may have housed a weapons depot, adding to the intensity of the blasts.

Residents in Beirut described feeling the largest tremor since the start of the airstrikes, with some reporting what felt like an earthquake following the most powerful explosion of the night.

In the nearby Sabra area, locals fled their homes as debris from the strikes in Ghobeiry and the resulting explosions reached their neighborhood. The aftermath left parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs ablaze, adding to the mounting devastation as the conflict continues to escalate.

مشاهد جديدة لاندلاع النيران على #طريق_المطار بعد الغارات العنيفة pic.twitter.com/ZtNBxM4Kti

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 5, 2024

فيديو من الغارات على #الضاحية_الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/29KcNf7hD6

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 5, 2024

فيديو اخر من الغارات الاسرائيلية على #الضاحية_الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/RAxsgnJUqy

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 5, 2024

من مشاهد الغارات الإسرائيلية العنيفة على #الضاحية_الجنوبية_لبيروت pic.twitter.com/H6mxXljAn6

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 5, 2024

فيديو متداول للغارة الاسرائيلية التي استهدفت منذ قليل منطقة #الشويفات pic.twitter.com/vnAMmteqdw

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 5, 2024