‘We felt death’: Survivors recount Israel’s massacre in Beirut

‘We felt death’: Survivors recount Israel’s massacre in Beirut Submitted by Rita Kabalan on Fri, 04/10/2026 - 09:32 From a teenage street vendor to families searching the rubble, Beirut residents recount how Israeli strikes shattered their lives A man looks at wrecked car following the Israeli strikes on Beirut on 8 April 2026 (MEE/Rita Kabalan) Off The first thing Abdelwahab noticed was the silence after the blast. Then came the smoke, the screams - and the realisation that the bodies he was pulling from the rubble belonged to people he knew. It was shortly after 2pm on Wednesday when across Lebanon , Israeli warplanes had launched a heavy wave of air strikes on densely populated areas, including in Beirut, its southern suburbs, the eastern Beqaa governorate and southern villages.