JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Huge explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut today. Israel says it was targeting Hezbollah's headquarters and the militant group's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah. It's unclear if Nasrallah, who has led the Iran-backed movement for 30 years, survived the attack. That massive air strike collapsed six buildings in a residential neighborhood. NPR's Jane Arraf was at the scene. Jane, if you could just start by telling us about where this attack happened and what you've seen.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Sure. We're in the southern suburbs of Beirut. And right now, there's a line of soldiers going by, armed soldiers who have secured the area. The explosions were multiple explosions all in the same area, as you mentioned, targeting the head of Hezbollah and other senior officials. And what we're seeing right now is the aftermath. There's still smoke rising that can be seen in some directions. But now there are back hoes going in, apparently to try to dig through the rubble to see who's there and who might have survived.
SUMMERS: What have you been hearing there from people on the ground? How are they reacting to the strike?
ARRAF: Yeah. This one was a tough one. Even in central Beirut, downtown, where you very rarely hear the explosions, it actually shook buildings. It shook the building that we were in. The windows were vibrating. That's how strong the blasts were. And as we got closer to this area to the southern suburbs, we had to park the car and walk. We walked through neighborhoods that are completely dark because the electricity is out, apart from the flashing blue lights of these ambulances and the fire trucks.
We ran into one man who is leading his elderly mother by the arm. They had evacuated their apartment when the explosion hit, and now they were going back. She was in a nightgown with bare feet and absolutely terrified. And that's the case for many people here.
SUMMERS: Jane, this comes after a series of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah across southern Lebanon and Beirut. How is Hezbollah responding to this?
ARRAF: You know, I have to say, it seems like these attacks have left them reeling because it started with unprecedented attacks on Hezbollah's supply chain, inserting explosives into pagers and radios used by thousands of Hezbollah fighters. It ended up killing dozens of fighters, but also killing civilians, including children, and wounding more than 3,500 people. And then Israel airstrikes began in the Beqaa Valley, in the southern suburbs here, in places where Israel had not hit in some time. So it has been a very rough time for Lebanon and for Hezbollah. Hezbollah has in the past, of course, vowed that it will take revenge for these attacks, but it hasn't said how or when, and it's unclear what a week of intense attacks here has done to them.
SUMMERS: And, Jane, this attack, I'll just note, came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.N. General Assembly. He said that Israel would press on with its offensive. What is the sense there in Beirut of where this is all going?
ARRAF: There's a lot of fear here. And we have to remember that Lebanon is used to war. It's undergone several wars with Israel, a civil war. This is, in many senses, a battle-hardened country. But this is a war that they have not seen before. And there's intense worry. People are trying to leave. There's talk of evacuation flights for foreign citizens because no one thinks this will get better, and very few people think there could be a cease-fire.
SUMMERS: That's NPR's Jane Arraf in Beirut. Jane, thank you.
ARRAF: Thank you, Juana.
SUMMERS: Earlier, when asked about Israel's attempt to kill Nasrallah, President Biden had this to say.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We're still gathering information. I can tell you the United States had no knowledge of or participation in the IDF action. We're gathering more information. I'll have more to say when we have more information.
SUMMERS: Stay with NPR for the latest on this developing story. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
