Good picturesIsrael’s intensive bombing campaign in Lebanon has caused the most damage to buildings in two weeks, according to satellite-based radar data assessed by the BBC.
Data shows that more than 3,600 buildings in Lebanon were damaged or destroyed between October 2 and 14, 2024. This is 54% of the total damage from the cross-border wars between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago.
Cory Sher of the City University of New York and Jamon van den Hoek of Oregon State University collected the damage data. They compared radar satellite images to reveal sudden changes in the height or structure of buildings that indicate damage.
Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental expert at Pax for Peace, analyzed satellite-based radar data and warned of the impact of Israel’s bombing.
“The Israeli military campaign appears to be creating a ‘dead zone’ in the south of Lebanon to evacuate people and make it difficult for Hezbollah to re-establish itself at the cost of civilians,” he said.
Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on 8 October 2023 after the armed Lebanese group began firing rockets into and around northern Israel in support of the Palestinians, the day after its ally Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon on September 30 to destroy Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure in “limited, localized, targeted raids,” it said.
Satellite photos, radar images and military records show that recent Israeli bombardment in Lebanon has focused on the southern border area. It has also expanded to the central and northern regions, including the Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The Israeli military said it struck thousands of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut.
Most of Beirut’s strikes have targeted Dahi, a southern suburb home to thousands of civilians. The Israeli military says the area is home to Hezbollah’s command headquarters.
A series of Israeli attacks on buildings in the area killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.
Separate data from the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled), analyzed by the BBC, indicates at least 2,700 attacks by the Israeli military in Lebanese areas between September 1 and October 11, 2024. While these attacks have primarily focused on the southern border areas, they have also spread to the northern and central regions. Each Israeli attack may involve multiple bombings.
Aklet reported that Hezbollah had carried out about 540 attacks against Israel during the same period. Each Hezbollah attack can be accompanied by a barrage of rockets, missiles and drones.
Israeli military says airstrikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon
It continues to add that it wants to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people living in Israeli border areas displaced by attacks by Iran-backed groups.
About 60,000 people have been displaced from northern Israel due to Hezbollah’s daily attacks. But some rockets reached further south and damaged homes in and around the coastal city of Haifa.
Hezbollah reiterated that it would continue to fire rockets into Israel unless a ceasefire was reached. The group’s deputy secretary-general said the rockets were aimed at military targets, but warned that Hezbollah reserves the right to strike anywhere in Israel in response to attacks across Lebanon.
On the Lebanese side, several Israeli airstrikes targeted the city of Tire, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut, according to an analysis of the BBC’s latest monthly data collected by Acled.
Lebanon’s government says 1.3 million people have been internally displaced, while Prime Minister Najib Mikadi warned of the “biggest displacement” in the country’s history.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are issuing evacuation orders to residents across the country, including parts of Beirut.
In the south, the army advised residents of many villages to leave their homes and “move immediately north of the Avali River”, which meets the coast 50 km (30 mi) from the Israeli border.
“It’s a humanitarian disaster,” Gabriel Carlson, Middle East manager for the British Red Cross in Beirut, told the BBC.
He said there were not enough shelters to accommodate many evacuees.
“I saw children sleeping on the streets,” Carlson added, urging humanitarian organizations to coordinate their efforts to address the growing crisis.
Lebanese officials say at least 2,350 people have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded in Israeli attacks. Lebanon’s health minister said many of the casualties were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah attacks have killed 60 people and wounded more than 570, according to Israeli officials.
“Collateral damage in war is inevitable,” former head of Israeli military intelligence Amos Yadlin told the BBC.
The retired major general blamed Hezbollah for the war and said Israel’s ground offensive would drive the group out of the border areas.
However, Zwijnenburg of Pax for Peace warned of the impact of Israel’s military campaign on civilians and populated areas.
“Heavy bombardment radius kills and injures nearby civilians,” he said, referring to Israeli airstrikes.
“Open-source data combined with satellite imagery shows that civilian infrastructure such as irrigation channels, gas stations and electricity grids have been damaged, worsening the humanitarian situation,” he added.
Additional reporting by Paul Guciak and Maria Rashed
