By Emir Nader
Oct 24, 2024
When the air strike hit on Monday night, Fouad Hassan, 74, was sitting on his balcony in south Beirut’s Jnah neighbourhood, reading his phone.
No evacuation order was given by the Israeli army before the rocket slammed into the home of his children and grandchildren a short walk away.
“When the bombing happened, I fainted,” Fouad says. “I was taken to get oxygen due to the smoke from the strike. When I got better, I realised that the entire neighbourhood was devastated.”
Now a pile of mangled steel and masonry lies where a number of residential buildings stood closely together. Where buildings are still standing, people’s possessions can be seen inside through holes blasted in the walls.
A digger and about 40 local men are doing the slow work to excavate and look for bodies under the rubble.
“Look at the destruction – a whole neighbourhood wiped out, the people here dead,” Fouad says, gesturing over the bomb site. “My granddaughter died here, and my grandson is still in a coma. Both were 23 years old.”
Fouad is a well-known figure in the community. An actor and comedian, he has appeared on Lebanese television and is known by his stage name Zaghloul. As we walk around the bomb site, locals come to shake Fouad’s hand and offer words of condolence.
Taking his phone from his pocket, Fouad shows us a picture of his granddaughter, Alaa. She looks confident, posing for the camera and wearing a smart gold dress.
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